Chaotic
by Amasian
Summary: So when Uchiha Itachi, an SClass Missing Nin, is after Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke plans on protecting her. The problem? She doesn’t want his protection. The solution? Marriage. SasuSaku, NejiTen, NaruHina, InoShikaTema Lol, updated after forever.
1. Start

Alright, I'm a terrible person. If you guys read or even looked at the status of my previous two stories, you could easily see that I hardly updated it within the time span of _a year_! That's horrible! And on top of that, I'm spending my free time writing yet another fanfiction which means I'm digging a deeper hole for myself. Shit.

By the way, the previous summary/synopsis for this was:

It took seven male Anbus, six bottles of sake, five drunken kunoichis, four couples, three words, two fights, and one night to set the works of chaos in motion. How will Konohagakure ever survive?

**AND ONE MORE THING…** I'll just list this once so it won't get redundant:

--- _Flashbacks_

- - - - - Scene change

"Dialogue"

'_Thoughts'_

So enough with the Authors Note, on with the story! ENJOY!

**Disclaimer : **I don't own Naruto, sadly. Because if I did, I would be flipping' rich. Oh, and I don't own the song "Chaotic," which belongs to Britney Spears.

-----

_It's getting **hectic** in **here**  
It's getting **chaotic**  
I'm rockin' and rollin'  
**No stoppin'**  
We're **goin' **'til it's **over**  
**Do you like the way I rock it?**  
Boy I think it's so **chaotic**.  
-"Chaotic," Britney Spears_

-----

"I'm _so_ sick of this."

Hyuuga Hinata turned and sweetly smiled to the pink haired kunoichi to her left.

"What's wrong, Sakura?"

"I gave him millions of chances. Millions! But after five gorgeous years of patience, nothing. But maybe, in the end, he really doesn't like me. Maybe we were always meant to be just friends. Maybe I should stop being such a baby and realize I should just get over that prick. Just get over stupid Uchiha Sasuke!"

A blithe sigh rang through the air.

"Forehead, I envy you. I've stopped my tirade on Sasuke ages ago, but you still kept on liking him. How does it feel liking a hopeless cause?" teased the sole blonde in the room.

Sakura gave her friend a dry look. "Shut up, pig. I think he'd rather marry clouds than a nagging hag."

"Kiss my ass," smiled Yamanaka Ino.

"Keep it relatively peaceful, kids," laughed the last occupant in the room, despite only being a year older than the rest.

"Thank you, Tenten," Hinata mouthed.

Ino giggled bitterly. "This is horrible. You're right, Sakura, I am a nagging hag, aren't I?"

The heir to the main branch of the Hyuuga clan frowned. "Don't be so cynical, Ino."

The soul switcher shook her head. "But it's true! And Sakura's not the only one with guy problems! You have _no_ idea the insanely stupid things I've done to try and distract him from clouds. _No_ idea."

From her laying position on Sakura's bed, Tenten bolted up with an excited expression. "Don't tell me you tried seducing him!"

The flower arranger buried her face in her hands and groaned. "Well, I _wanted_ to keep that in the past."

Sakura and Hinata seemed interested, too. The pupil of Tsunade gave out an appreciative laugh. "Did you play a little dress up?"

"Enough! That's in the past and should STAY in the past."

The remaining three girls howled in laughter and doubled over with an image of Ino dressing up trying to seduce Nara Shikamaru.

"Oh, shut up! It's not like any of you aren't going through the same torture. What about you, Tenten? Any problems with Hinata's cousin over there?"

The weapon specialist sobered immediately. "The word 'problem' doesn't even do _any_ justice to the real thing."

The girls waited for her to continue. The brunette thought about how to arrange her words. "I just don't understand how he could overlook the hoards of girls willing to do about anything for him. I bet if I went around Konoha and asked the female population whether or not they'd like to go out with Hyuuga Neji, 4 out of 5 of them would say they'd like to _marry_ him!"

Sakura and Ino sighed.

"I always knew he was the gay type." piped in Hinata.

Silence.

Sakura, Ino, and Tenten burst out laughing. Of all the people to say that comment, quiet and bleak Hinata would be the first to blurt it out.

Hinata smiled. "I'm just kidding. Neji's a really nice guy, you know, he's just… ah… he's just very dedicated to training."

Tenten smiled wearily at Hinata. "And what about you, Hinata?"

The outspoken girl tilted her head in question. "What about me?"

Across from her, Tenten rolled her eyes. "Don't play stupid with me, heiress. What about your love life? Sakura, Ino, and I already spilled our less than beautiful situations. How's it going with you?"

Hinata blushed moderately. "N-Nothing's going on."

Sakura's eyes widened. "B-_S_! You had a thing for Naruto ever since we were Genin!"

Hinata's moderate blush just skipped stop-sign red and went straight to an alarmingly new shade of scarlet.

Ino agreed. "She's right."

"We-Well, Naruto's a really nice guy...," stammered Hinata.

"...But he's thicker than fog. Yes, I know. When you get by years with Naruto, I think you can pretty much bypass anything else in life." said Sakura, shaking her head.

There was yet another brief silence.

"Well then," Sakura started, "that was really the cherries to top off our fricken day!"

Tenten frowned and resumed playing with a shuriken.

"What time is it?" asked Ino, looking around for a clock.

"Eleven thirty."

Ino sat cross-legged on the floor and supported her chin on her right hand.

"The thinking pose." Tenten noted, peering over the bed.

"What are you thinking, Ino?" questioned Hinata.

"Well, it's Saturday night, right?" asked Ino, raising from her previous position.

Sakura nodded, "Yeah."

"And none of us has any duties in the morning, right?"

Tenten thought for a moment. "I've got a mission at three in the afternoon."

"So like I said, none of us has any duties in the morning. There's a new club in town a few blocks down from that ramen place all the guys hang out at. Let's go!"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Way to live up to your responsibility as a Jounin."

Ino grinned in a challenging way. "Just because you're on the Anbu team, Sakura, doesn't mean you have to be a killjoy."

The green eyed girl opened her mouth in mock surprise. "Me? A killjoy?" She crawled near her bed and reached underneath it. After searching for a minute, she pulled out six tall but slender bottles. "Let's see who the killjoy is after _this_."

Ino laughed. "Yes! Getting wasted from sake _and_ partying it up? This screams of a Saturday night orgy!"

"Guys… that's stupid. Do you know how much we'd screw ourselves over if anything bad happens?" questioned Tenten doubtfully.

"Don't tell me _you're_ the killjoy, Tenten!" cried Ino. "What's there left to screw over anyways? We fell for the biggest idiots in Konoha!"

Hinata agreed with Tenten. "Are...Are you guys sure?"

Sakura pouted playfully while filling a plastic cup with the alcohol inside the bottle. "Positive. Just for one night. And for once, Pig's idea doesn't seem that bad. We deserve this."

Ino distributed the cups to Tenten and Hinata. "Amen to that!" she cried, and raised her drink.

Sakura grinned and thrusted her cup to meet Ino's. Tenten, still shaking her head, plainly touched their cups in air. They all looked at Hinata now.

She vowed to herself she wouldn't let herself get too drunk, just in case she had to watch over the others. With a sigh, she mimicked her friends.

"To a good time _tonight_!"

And they drank.

- - - - -

"I'm so boreeeeeeeeed!" whined Uzumaki Naruto, banging his head on the table at Ichiraku Ramen.

"Well that makes the seven of us." Nara Shikamaru said in a bored tone.

'_Why am I even here?_' thought Uchiha Sasuke, perplexed and annoyed. '_How the hell did Naruto even manage to get me here?_'

Next to him, Hyuuga Neji was pondering the same thing.

Kiba Inuzuka, across from Neji, sipped the remaining contents of his soup. "Where's your brother, Kankurou? And more importantly, your sister?"

The sole Sand village representative present threw a pissed off look at Kiba at the mention of his sister. "Do you want to die?"

The dog master thought for a moment. "Well, yeah, eventually."

Kankurou ignored the comment. "Gaara's meeting with your Hokage and Temari went to some club or another... she said hanging around a bunch of guys younger than her was a 'no-go'. I'm beginning to think she's right."

Aburame Shino sat to the side observing the others chat.

"It's a Saturday night in KONOHA and there's nothing to do! How much more evil can this get?" Naruto whined some more.

Sasuke rubbed his temples. It was barely three hours since he got back from his week long Anbu mission and Naruto feigned an alert message telling him to meet him at Ichiraku Ramen immediately. How he hasn't murder Naruto by now was completely beyond him.

Five more minutes passed by with Naruto's relentless whining serving as the background music...

"Naruto, you can not possibly conceive of a cause as noble as mine right now." growled Kiba.

"And that cause would be?"

"MY FOOT UP YOUR ASS!"

"Hey, shut up, mutt-boy! Just because you -"

Shikamaru stepped in before things got out of hand. "Naruto, Kiba's right. Just shut up."

Naruto, mockingly offended, cried, "You know what? Why don't you step outside and look at the clouds!"

Shikamaru contemplated Naruto's suggestion. "Actually, I think I will."

The Anbu strategist slipped off his chair and brushed away the curtains that veiled the stand from the rest of the world. He was right about to step out when -

"Holy shit...,"

Naruto hurried over to see what caused his dispassionate friend to stop dead in his tracks.

"HO-OLY SHIT...!"

Naruto's confirmation of the sight evoked interest in the others. Shino trudged over and raised both his eyebrows higher than usual, Kiba meandered along and dropped his jaw, Kankurou peered nonchalantly at first but the facade fell as soon as he caught sight what the other guys saw - which left Sasuke and Neji. The two clan successors stared at each other as if willing the other succumb to the commotion first.

"Uchiha, Hyuuga!" barked the puppet master urgently. "Come here quick - you have no idea what you're about to miss!"

Still, the two stayed glued to their chairs. It wasn't until Naruto and Kiba came and physically moved them toward the curtains did they realize what they were indeed about to stupidly miss.

Sakura, Ino, Tenten, and Hinata were giggling and attracting a queue of men everywhere. Guys of all ages ceased whatever they were doing to see the group of girls sway drunkenly down the street.

To start off, Sakura was scantily clad. _Really_ scantily clad. She wore a tight hot pink wife beater with a black bikini top beneath. Her hair had grown back from over the years and now reached to the middle of her back. Tonight, she decided to wear it down. To cover her bottom half, she chose a black mini skirt with frills decorating the bottom. From where the boys were staring, they could tell it was just enough material to cover right where her rear ended. The accomplished medic finished her wardrobe with black knee-high boots that looked strangely similar to hooker boots.

As for Ino, she matched the former with just as much (or rather, _little_) clothing. Her hair was tied into two low ponytails (in substitute to her one high one) on each side of her head which hung in front of her shoulders. The usual slanted bangs added onto her allure for the night. Her clothes consisted of a lavender tube top with a short khaki jean skirt. To top off the outfit, she slipped a medium length handkerchief into one of her back pockets. Then for shoes, Ino chose a pair of white ankle high boots.

Tenten traded her trademark Chinese top for what seemed like a white sports bra. Underneath, she sported a bikini top with leopard spots. Unlike the other girls who wore skirts, she stayed with a pair of baggy black Capri's which emphasized the curve of her waist greatly. Similar to Ino, she added a sheer (gold) handkerchief to the back of her pocket of her pants. Finally, Tenten chose a pair of gold wedge heeled shoes over the boots her two previous friends wore. The most shocking change, however, was her hair. Instead of putting it up in her usual buns, she let her hair down in public for once. It was about the same length as Ino's - if not longer.

Lastly, Hinata joined the girls with a modest - yet tight - blue and white horizontally striped shirt with sleeves covering 3/4's of her arm. The shirt hugged her shoulders comfortably from the sides. Although her top was not as revealing as the other girls, her skirt sure made up for it. It was, indeed, the shortest of the quartet. The frilly khaki skirt barely covered her back profile as she skipped dizzily down the street. As for her choice of shoes, Hinata chose a pair of tan stilettos. How the girl manages to maneuver around with _those_ must honestly be a Hyuuga family secret.

As the girls continued their messy walk toward the club, the guys from the ramen stand - along with various other men outside the group - stared, no, ogled at their fading bodies. The seven had their eyes glued onto them - especially Hinata (minus Neji, of course, he was too busy staring down Tenten) - like mesmerized, hormonally frustrated teenagers. Kankurou was the first one to break the spell. He hit all of them over the head.

"Way to tell me your teammates had curves, assholes!"

Neji pushed the puppeteer.

"Calm down, man, I speak the truth! But after tonight..."

"Just. Shut. _UP_."

"Fine, fine!"

"Where do you think they're going?" wondered Naruto, still watching them stumble down the street.

Shikamaru stared blandly past the girls in the general direction where they were going. A three story building stood at the end of the street with a crooked sign that glowed "Inferno" in the middle. Although the lights inside were out, spectators outside could see dancing shadows silhouetted against the window through the flashing neon lights. An audible beat rang through the streets, emitting the sounds coming out from the club.

The strategist scratched his head. "The new nightclub from what I can tell. I could probably get a seizure in there from all the violent colors."

Naruto's eyes brightened immediately. "I know, I know! Let's go to the club!"

Sasuke looked at him, deadpanned. "I don't think so."

"You're such a fun-sucker, ya' bastard! C'mon! We're all bored as hell and we have nothing better to do! Besides, it's not like you're going to get attacked by girls in there." challenged Naruto, knowing his friend wouldn't back down from showing him wrong.

The Uchiha survivor rolled his eyes, knowing exactly what Naruto was doing. He shook his head. "No really, I _insist_."

Neji pried his eyes away from the girls. "I agree with Uchiha. Don't you all have missions tomorrow?"

The other six males mumbled and thought for a moment.

A few chorus's of "I don't,"'s and "Nope,"'s rang through the group.

"What about you, Neji?" asked Kiba.

The Hyuuga frowned. "One in the afternoon."

Naruto punched a fist in the air. "Then it's settled! We're going!"

Sasuke and Neji still resisted while the rest shrugged.

The Kyuubi keeper walked toward Sasuke. "Sasuke, if you go to the club...," he thought for a moment as he stared at the ground. Sasuke looked unimpressed. "...Then I'll shut up and completely ignore you for the entire night." he finished, solemnly.

The Sharingan wielder glared at Naruto for a moment. He sighed and frowned. "You are _such_ a bastard."

With that, he pushed out of the group and started down the street. The group now turned to look at Neji. He still refused. "I'm not going."

Kiba thought quickly. "Well if _you're_ not going, then who knows _who_ will have their hands on our dear Tenten and Hinata? Do you really fancy the idea of a ridiculous horny men feeling them up?"

Neji growled at the thought and shot Kiba a look that could render any candy sour. The moron was right, it _wasn't_ a pleasant thought.

Not a pleasant thought at all.

-----

So how do you guys like it? Any comments? Don't be too harsh - I'm new to the Naruto community! I hope you guys all get situated to the characters... I tried as best I could to match them up as best I could. You have to understand, however, that they all grew so they're attitudes might be slightly different.

Oh and one more thing... here's the status of all the main characters: (It goes Name - Age - Rank)

**Characters:**

Chouji Akimichi: 20, Jounin  
Gaara: 20, Kazekage  
Hinata Hyuuga: 20, Jounin  
Ino Yamanaka: 20, Jounin  
Kankurou: 22, Jounin  
Kiba Inuzuka: 20, Anbu  
Lee Rock: 21, Anbu  
Naruto Uzumaki: 20, Anbu  
Neji Hyuuga: 21, Anbu  
Sakura Haruno: 20, Anbu medic  
Sasuke Uchiha: 20, Anbu  
Shikamaru Nara: 20, Anbu  
Shino Aburame: 20, Anbu  
Temari: 23, Jounin  
Tenten: 21, Anbu

...and the older characters are still in their old ranks. As for their age, I'm too lazy to calculate it out.

**Chapter 2: Party**

stardust-chan


	2. Party

THANK YOU, REVIEWERS! I had no intention to concentrate on this fic, but now I am!

Anyway, I slaved away for three days in front of my computer and I'm convinced I just screwed my eyes over. Seeing that New Years is nearing (and my vacation ending...), I figured why not treat my readers to a quick update?

**Disclaimer :** I _still_ don't own Naruto and I also don't own the songs "Hotel California" by The Eagles and "Don't Cha" by the Pussycat Dolls.

-----

_**Some** dance to **remember**,  
__Some **dance** to **forget**.  
__-"Hotel California," The Eagles_

-----

"Okay, here's the plan: Go in and get the girls quick so we're free to get the shit out. No seizures, no fights, no nothing."

Shikamaru rolled his gaze over the group lazily with arms crossed sloppily across his chest. Said genius knew his chance for succeeding were slim seeing that it was, indeed, a dull Saturday night in Konohagakure with six bachelors in their twenties.

Even at the gate of the club, the lights were already giving him a wave of nausea. Hell, every time he blinked he could still envision neon lights blinding his pupils. He was amazed at how Neji could handle such intense glare without going blind.

Kiba was talking to the bouncer who was fortunately - or _unfortunately_, in Shikamaru's case - one of his friends. Neji seemed awfully anxious to burst in and throw any male to hell within a five feet radius of Tenten. Naruto was scanning the club with squinted eyes from the threshold. Sasuke looked bored out of his mind. Shino was standing behind Naruto, and whether or not he was trying to get a glimpse of some scantily clad girls no one will ever know due to his shades. Kankurou stood by Kiba, watching him converse to the bouncer.

'This just exceeded troublesome and now is a downright pain in the ass.'

Kiba jolted around excitedly and yelled in his usual roguish voice, "Okay, kids! We're _in_!"

As soon as the dog master gave the word, Neji zoomed by Naruto and practically made a beeline to where he suspected Tenten to be.

Naruto ran inside looking like Akamaru searching for a ball his master just threw. Kiba happily mimicked Naruto as did Kankurou. Sasuke strolled into the club - probably the only one who _had_ listened to Shikamaru, even if it was half-heartily. Shino stayed next to Shikamaru as the latter walked into his self proclaimed grave.

When the group of six (now at a loss of Neji) shuffled pass the threshold, an intoxicating aroma filled their nostrils. It was a very alluring spice - mixed with different types of colognes and perfumes with just a pinch of sweat. Weaving through the three scents was a light tinge of alcohol. The stuffy atmosphere could render anyone dizzy if the lights hadn't already. Streaks of color flashed down at the crowd in fives as the people grinded away.

It was a 360 degree change for the group when they embraced the new atmosphere. The scene outside was no where similar to The Inferno. Whereas it was sparsely crowded on the street, it was a tightly compact area inside the club. A sea of grinding bodies pressed against each other while moving to the beat of the music. Whether or not some could dance could hardly be picked out from seventy five percent of the people due to their drunken state.

The thumping beat vibrating off the walls were felt underneath the shinobi's as they continued taking in their surroundings. Girls - either alone, in doubles, or trios - groped various poles elevated from the ground.

"Guys, there's a metric assload of drunk girls near the bar and I _strongly_ suggest we get some right now." reported Kiba, saluting the rest of the group.

"To the bar!" Naruto yelled, thrusting his index finger up in the air toward the general direction of said location. The blonde lead the way as Kiba, Shino, and Kankurou followed in happy glee.

Sasuke and Shikamaru remained still, one in an aloof manner and the other rather disgruntled. Naruto traced back his steps after realizing two of the original party was missing.

"Hey, why aren't you guys heading to the bar?"

"It's not my cup of tea." Shikamaru replied.

The Uchiha genius growled. "I thought you promised to leave me the hell alone."

Naruto shrugged. "Che, what brought you to believe me in the first place?"

Realizing his grave mistake, Sasuke kicked himself mentally. He shot daggers at his persistent friend.

"Come on!" the blonde, once again, urged.

Shikamaru groaned. "Well that just dashed all hope for my plan."

- - - - -

Byakugan fully activated, Neji saw not only 360 degrees around him, but 360 degrees of red. Two guys in their mid twenties were sandwiching his sparring partner between them - one with their hands resting dangerously close to her rear and the other actually feeling her up. The latter sonuvabitch that actually had the balls to grope Tenten's bare waist deepened the shade of red so much it could give Hinata's blush a run for its money.

It was instantly decided. He was going to royally hand their asses to them.

Neji practically teleported to the spot where the three were dancing and flung the first guy around. The stranger didn't even have enough time to react before Neji drove both index and middle finger punctiliously on five points around the other's body. Before said stranger could reach the floor, Neji slammed a much anticipated fist into his face and kicked him in the chest - sending him flying through the hoard of people.

Since Tenten had her back faced to Neji, she had no idea why one of her partners suddenly left. The guy she was facing, however, knew the reason which caused his friend's disappearance and flew his hands off Tenten like he touched something roaring hot. He gave Neji a redoubtable look.

The girl stared at him with an expression that was a blend of annoyance and question. "What?"

She turned around slowly and Neji took this time to maneuver around her, grabbing the second guy by the cuff of his shirt.

"Hey, it's just a dance, I didn't know it was your girl-,"

The second stranger couldn't blurt out any more excuses before Neji collided his opened palm a flurry of times around his opponents body. Right when he ended the blitz attack, the Byakugan user threw the scum into the air and waited until the body fell down at the right height before kicking the fiend in the gut.

The fighting sequence was so quick that by the time Tenten turned around, she lost another partner. Instead, she found an even closer partner - her teammate - instead.

"Neji?"

- - - - -

Sasuke dragged himself unwillingly after Naruto, already bombarded by girls.

'My _ass _I wasn't going to get attacked by girls.' he thought, glaring venomously at the back of the blonde's head.

The trio (plus Shikamaru) treaded toward the bar with minor difficulties - most of which Sasuke received - and saw that the rest of their friends already found 'some'. They were high five-ing each other at the prizes they snagged.

Shino miraculously found himself between a pair of twins - both sporting a skimpy French maid outfit with their tanned bodies and long ebony hair. Kiba and Kankurou stared dumbly with their jaws hanging ajar wondering just how the hell their quiet friend scored two chicks right off the bat. The two didn't waste any more time thinking before finding themselves their own girls.

Kiba had grabbed a random dancer near by. The auburn haired lass turned around and smiled slyly at him, turquoise eyes and all, before pulling him closer by the shoulders. Their bodies touched instantly and moved at a fast pace - the rhythm the music set - while both her arms rested straight out on Kiba's shoulders. The trained dog nin found his hands instinctively on his partner's hips.

A few feet behind Kiba was a girl with chestnut tresses and behind _her_ was Kankurou. The girl had a smirk on her face while both her hands were clasped behind Kankurou's neck. Like Kiba, the puppet master found the same comfortable place for his hands - on her hip.

However, Naruto wasn't paying any attention to his partying friends. He gave his undivided attention to a girl on top of the bar stand, barefoot with a severely short skirt. Her indigo hair flung gently with the movements of her head as she dangled a bottle of beer in one of her hands. She used her flexibility from training to her advantage, swaying her hips in a sudden yet fluid-like motion as she stepped in a circle. It was amazing what her Hyuuga feet could do - from ambling down the street in stilettos to dancing barefoot on a surface that could pass as a plank.

The view from where Naruto was standing could earn anyone a nosebleed - which indeed happened to countless men around him. He, however, was nosebleed free due to his time spent with Jiraiya. The "pervert Sennin," as Naruto dubbed him, not only taught him special techniques, but techniques that weren't exactly proved quite useful until now - such as resisting a nosebleed.

Hinata stopped her feet from moving - a bit _too_ quickly - as her opal eyes began to focus on Naruto's form. Within a second, she found herself slipping face first toward the ground. Her arms instinctively covered her face as she tucked her head behind it. Like a romance novel (and before Hinata could hit the ground) Naruto dumbly found himself catching her. He practically shot kunais, senbons, and shurikens out of his eyes at a group of men watching Hinata. Her head was taking time to register the fall as she rested on Naruto's shoulder. After a moment of stabilizing (from Hinata's end) and growling (from Naruto's end), the heiress pushed herself gently away from the Kyuubi boy.

"Na..Naruto?"

"Yeah?"

She closed her eyes with a smile caressing her lips. Naruto looked at her in a worry expression. "You okay?"

The song changed.

"Mmhm," she slurred, and turned her back to Naruto. With _much_ more confidence than before (probably under the influence of alcohol), Hinata placed his hands on each side of her hips and guided him dancing.

- - - - -

_**Oh, baby**_

Sasuke groaned. This was bad news.

Very, very bad news.

_**Dolls**_

Ridiculously bad news.

_**I know you like me (I know you like me)**_

The beat that just took over was easily recognizable. This was basically every girl's _anthem_ in clubs. He downed another generous portion of his drink, a light feeling of dizziness creeping toward his head.

Sasuke could already see a blurry vision of women looking his way, ready to grab him...

_**I know you do (I know you do)**_

He was about to bolt toward the exit when a slender hand tugged forcefully at his arm and jerked him toward the middle of the club. All he saw was a whirlpool of colors through the dark atmosphere. Blurs of cerulean, fuchsia, canary yellow, and neon green invaded his sight when all of a sudden -

Bubblegum pink.

The coral color he could identify anywhere. After all, once someone spends six years (three were missing due to his distraction from the other side) with another, they could easily recognize one another's traits.

_**That's why whenever I come around**_

_**She's all over you** _

Before Sasuke had time to react and pull away, Sakura pushed him down onto a chair. The Uchiha heir frowned at being dominated over - he _was_, normally, use to giving out orders - and tried to get up. Sakura noticed his movement and abruptly pounced on him, both lethal legs standing up on either side of him.

"The hell-,"

Performing another amazingly fast action, Sakura pushed down on Sasuke's shoulder before taking away one hand and replacing the free area with a knee. Sasuke was wide-eyed. His childhood partner's sex was alarmingly close to his face.

_**I know you want it**_

_**It's easy to see**_

The pink haired kunoichi (still tipsy) used her free hand to tilt his chin up, making him direct his gaze at her embossed eyes and smirked. Noticing he abandoned his previous attempt to stand up, Sakura withdrew her knee and set both feet down on the ground. She fully straddled the raven haired boy now, performing a small lap dance - just for him.

_**And in the back of my mind**_

_**I know you should be home with me**_

Tsunade's apprentice skillfully moved around on his lap - slowly inching her way toward his manhood. Sakura threw a bent arm in the air, flinging it in a slovenly manner, as she locked gazes with Sasuke.

_**Don't cha wish your girlfriend was hot like me?  
**_

**_Don't cha wish your girlfriend was a freak like me?_  
**  
Suddenly, she stood up. Sasuke raised his eyebrows slightly, looking at her with a wondering expression.

_**Don't cha?  
**_

_**Don't cha?**_

Still in close proximity of him, Sakura was hovering burlesquely around him. Her back profile was facing Sasuke now as she danced to the provocative beat.

**_Don't cha wish your girlfriend was raw like me?  
_**

_**Don't cha wish your girlfriend was fun like me?**_

Sakura threw a portion of her pink hair behind her shoulder as she glanced sideways at him. She thrusted her hips back and forth, tickling Sasuke slightly with the frills of her skirt. Twirling around and stepping off Sasuke, she moved to his right side where she bent down and slithered her way back up expertly.

Humming to the music, Sakura switched to Sasuke's left side and purred,

_**"Don't cha?**_

**_Don't cha?_"**

Reclaiming her initial position, Sakura climbed back on Sasuke and jerked her head left and right - her hair emphasizing her movements. The tips of her strands brushed lightly against his chin.

Bucking her thighs behind his waist, Sakura squirmed again. She released her tight control over him and stood up. Placing two small hands on each side of her waist, she swayed once more before lowering herself gradually down.

To put it simply, the two were inhumanly close to each other. They finally closed the space between them when their foreheads came in contact. Both ninjas were panting heavily with skin slick from sweat.

Sakura's hands abandoned her hips and found them loosely around Sasuke's neck while his hands replaced hers on her waist. Both eyes were glossed over with either lust or alcohol.

Sakura's sea foam green orbs shot him a look as if challenging him to kiss her.

Smirking, Sasuke stepped up to his unsaid dare.

- - - - -

'I refuse to have sex vertically.' Shikamaru vowed to himself, glaring at his hormonally driven friends.

_**Fight the feeling (fight the feeling)**_

It was far too troublesome to drag his friends (now drunk themselves) _and_ the girls out of the club, so he decided to wait inside to keep them out of trouble.

_**Leave it alone (leave it alone)**_

That was, until he found two blondes walking his way.

_**Cause if it ain't love**_

_**It just ain't enough to leave a happy home**_

Now he had to keep _himself_ out of trouble.

Crap!

Too late.

He was about to see the ass-end of hell soon.

Too soon.

Damn soon.

"Shikamaru."

The two blondes greeted, but looked confused as they heard another voice calling the Anbu's name in unison. Both of them came from different directions of the club, closing in on the simple lad at the same time.

**_Let's keep it friendly (let's keep it friendly)_**

Said simple lad looked the two over as they exchanged irritated glances. Luckily, Ino had enough sense to not strip down any further. Temari dawned on a gold bikini top with faded angel-blue jeans, hair curled on this particular night to frame her face. Her onyx eyes were hidden behind amber colored sunglasses - pretty unnecessary for a night club, but it only enhanced her look. She took them off and tucked them inside her front pocket. The Sand nin threw Ino a bitter smile and wrapped an arm around one of Shikamaru's.

"Excuse us." she said, a bit too sweetly, as she dragged the younger man to a more populated area while still staying in viewing distance from Ino. The Leaf nin narrowed her eyes slightly and replied with a sarcastic smile, tilting her head in a "screw you" fashion.

Shikamaru was praying to whichever Kage chilling up _there_ right now. It was cruel how he didn't loose his nerve around opponents tenfold his status, size, and experience, but when it came to two blonde kunoichis, the strategist was oblivious on how to handle them.

Temari finally found a spot she was satisfied with. The genius beside her had no idea what to do; he had to plan his actions carefully before things got even more troublesome _and_ avoid infuriating either female. The older woman smirked as she read his thoughts, pulling him closer and placing two slender legs on either side of his left one seductively. She slapped a hand on his shoulder as she slid down the length of his taller body. Then, she spun around in her crouching position to face Shikamaru inbetween his legs.

_**You have to play fair (you have to play fair)**_

Unexpectedly, Temari grabbed the rim of his belt and slinked her way back up, ripping the signature army green flak jacket apart. With her hip still swaying, she ran her hands up the surface of Shikamaru's upper body and settled on his shoulders. Looking him devilishly in the eye while receiving a questioning (and troubled) look in return, Temari moved her hands across his shoulders - as if smoothing out a wrinkle - but instead removed his jacket. Tearing the piece of clothing away before her partner could react, the Sand Jounin twirled around and bent over to touch the floor, giving her enough time to slip on the jacket when she re-surfaced.

From afar, Ino looked like she was just slapped. She shoved a couple that was in her path toward Shikamaru and made a road of destruction on the way. As soon as she was within two feet of him, she pulled violently on his arm and started to dance.

"Che, I could do better."

At once, Ino bent down and stuck her rear in front of Shikamaru's shaft. She moved her hips around in a circle painfully slowly while she arose, tilting her head to the side and looking at the point where the two touched. As soon as she was up, she had a quick glimpse of Temari glaring at the couple with a hand on her waist.

_**See, I don't care**_

The younger blonde smirked.

Sticking two outstretched arms out of her - one on top of the other with slightly curled fists - she thrusted her pelvic region back and forth, sending the handkerchief she tucked in her pocket flowing gracefully. Ino spun back to stand between Shikamaru's legs. In one fluid motion, she 'tip-toed' her fingers to the top of Shikamaru's head and pushed them, forcing the male shinobi down.

Shikamaru had no idea what the hell was going on as he was passed from Temari to Ino. All he knew was that he was now crouching on the floor with Ino's perfectly sculpted butt swaying near his face.

The lad was jerked up at once by his previous partner. A chair had appeared next to the trio and Temari shoved him down. She took a drunk look at Ino, starting from the foot and up. Ino did the same. The older Jounin spoke first.

"Bitch, please," she scoffed acrimoniously and rolled her eyes.

_**But I know she ain't gon' wanna share**_

The girls stood about six feet apart from each other with Shikamaru in the middle. Temari started to dance to the music, flipping her curled locks at Ino as she looked her squarely in the eye. She jumped and turned around, showing both her rival and Shikamaru her back profile as she shook her butt with at a fast pace, arms swaying at shoulder level.

Ino took another irked look at Temari and rolled her eyes. She bucked her knees and bent down, staring challengingly at Temari as she rose back up and curled her index finger in a "bring-it" fashion. The Leaf kunoichi closed her eyes and imagined herself dancing alone. She moved to the beat of the music, isolating the top part of her body and letting the bottom half do all the work. Her arms moved exotically in the air. When she opened her eyes again, she raised a delicate eyebrow at Temari.

Caught in the middle, Shikamaru looked uneasily at the two girls. There was _way_ too much tension going on for two drunken girls and nothing - absolutely NOTHING - good comes out of the things he already had a bad hunch about in the first place.

And alas, curse him for being right ninety-seven percent of the time. The fragile nerve burst within the two females and they lunged at each other simultaneously.

From somewhere near the spurring riot, a voice erupted.

"CAT FIGHT!"

-----

Hah, all right, so I had fun with this chapter. Especially with the song. I was listening a list of random songs on my computer and well, this song came up and WUBAM inspiration hit me. If you're some of the people who skip over song lyrics (I have to say, I'm guilty for that), don't, because this song captures the scene with Sasuke and Sakura as well as the battle between Ino and Temari perfectly.

As a tip, you should go and search for "Don't Cha" by the Pussy Cat Dolls. Listen to it while you read the parts. It's a great addition.

Wait for the next installment:

**Chapter 3: Morning**

Happy New Years!

-stardust-chan


	3. Morning

**Disclaimer :** I _still_ don't own Naruto (seeing that I'm anxiously awaiting the next manga chapter) because if I did, Sai would stop with his fricken penis jokes. Also, the song "Collide" is by Howie Day.

-----

_The **dawn **is breaking  
A light shining through  
You're barely **waking  
**And I'm **tangled up in you**.**  
**_-_"Collide," Howie Day_

-----

"Mmm...ugh...,"

The lone kunoichi shuffled and moaned. A mind numbing pain rocked her head as Sakura slowly came to consciousness. The medic's legs felt oddly cramped and no position could satisfy the feeling. Shifting around some more, Sakura inched toward the side of the mattress.

In one swift yet not so graceful moment, the girl performed a 180 degree flip off the bed.

"Oof!"

She suddenly felt like the brain cells inside her head were waging a civil war against each other.

"Aa...!" Sakura whimpered out loud, holding her belligerent head between her palms.

She issued a quick peak beyond her closed lids. To her surprise and horror, she found a pair of livid, coal-black eyes staring directly down at her tangled form on the floor.

Sakura's hands abandoned her head and unconsciously ran through her hair.

She was now officially distressed for two reasons. One, she looked like shit, and two, she actually _cared_ that she looked like shit - or even worse, Sasuke was there to witness her shittiness.

'_What ever happened to giving up on him?_'

Holding her breath and breaking the awkward staring connection, Sakura peered left and right to observe her surroundings. Recognizing this was _not_ her comforter, _not_ her floor, and - she looked down - _not_ her T-shirt, realization finally dawned upon her.

As did memories.

---

_Although looking like he was suffering from mild retardation, Shikamaru is OK!_

_It all started when Ino and Temari had launched a vicious cat fight consisted solely of taijutsu (thank Kage Temari had left her deadly fan back in her hotel room). With all the violent and jerky lights that blinked at random angles, it was hard to infiltrate both femme fatales's body with his Kagemane no Jutsu. It didn't help any that they were rolling amongst the crowd, throwing punches and kicks everywhere. _

_Shikamaru had resulted to his least favorite activity - actually getting up off his ass and _doing_ something. _

_This was indeed the most troublesome night, he decided._

_The lad foolishly jumped between the clashing opponents and right away figured he should have done more planning. It was as if the two had signed an imaginary Non-Aggression Pact to unleash high hell upon the strategist._

_And thus, it lead to his suffering state._

_The drunk and the drunker started making a path of destruction to the bar stands. _

_Kiba, who was flirting it up with another girl, was leaning on the edge of the bar when the two rolled near him. With a well placed kick from Ino, Kiba was sent colliding against the timid stranger. His instinctive hands caught hold on the curve of the female's waist but his head was sent flying into her chest. _

_After lifting his head and initiating a full fifteen second stare-fest, Kiba managed to rip his attention away from the protruding body part and look up. A pair of menacing eyes glared down at him and slapped him with a charged and chakra-ized hand. The lass muttered a few curt phrases and turned away, causing Kiba to tip over and fall face first onto the ground. _  
_  
The cat fight still didn't cease. Meandering right back to Kiba again, Temari and Ino painfully rolled over him in a vain attempt to get the upper hand. The poor dog trainer suffered another injury when Temari's heels collided with the back of his head. Ino managed to land a second blow on his back with her sharp elbows._

_Thankfully, Hurricane TemIno decided to terrorize another part of the club before Kiba had dealt with any more attacks. Now partnerless and hurt, Kiba laid on the floor with his chin propped up by his palm. He threw the girls a very pissed off look and imitated them in a high voice,_

_"Oh my! How we suck at moving! Let's be dipshits and PLOW RIGHT THROUGH!"_

_He finished his imitation with a well saluted middle finger._

_Meanwhile..._

_Sasuke and Sakura were still taking their sweet time in their situation. Through his blurred vision, Sasuke could see the mint green eye shadow that dashed above Sakura's eyes. Her black lashes curved at a slow but attractive slope. The girl had matured features which meant growing into the 'large forehead' she once loathed as a child. A shy coral blush touched her cheeks. She was, in a word, beautiful._

_Before their lips met, Sakura lazily peered at the guy beneath her. For a moment, she seemed sincere to her words and all alcohol influence was lost._

_"I love you."_

_The three whispered words sent a jolt through Sasuke and he jerked back. It took only a second for his dulled eyes to regain their punctilious effect. He looked at her critically._

_"You're drunk."_

_Sakura withdrew a little herself, letting his reaction sink in. Her eyes dimmed to the callous fog and giggled. "And you're silly."_

_"Stop. This is no way to serve as an Anbu." Sasuke glared at her through jagged bangs, a frown marring his features. _

_The petal haired kunoichi brushed off the remark. "Why don't you stop and live a little - oh!"_

_Before Sakura could finish her sentence, a hand reached out from the crowd and captured her wrist. With a forceful tug, the medic was pulled off Sasuke's lap and into the masses._

_Sasuke shook his head to rid the alcoholic effect and tackled through the people. Following the relative direction Sakura disappeared from, he quickly targeted her captor. _

_His partner was forced up against a man in his mid twenties. His hand pushed the curve of her back towards him while Sakura put her hands up in defense on his chest. Two delicate brows furrowed to give off a "I'm-not-interested-in-this-bullshit" look while her lips formed a sharp line. _

_"Look, _buddy_." She spat, "If. _You_ don't. Remove._ Your _hands. From. _My_ body... I think I'll have to remove it from _yours_."_

_A cocky grin slapped across the man's face. "Feisty."_

_Sasuke noticed a curled fist wheeling back to gain momentum. The kunoichi's ridiculous ability to control her chakra was put into use as the yielding of her power was barely noticed. However, the blue haired male knew that a significant amount of energy was being drawn up that moment._

Crap... I'm seeing triples...,_' Sakura thought, squinting her eyes. In front of her were three shaking copies of the stranger, each grinning hungrily at her. The lucky bastard didn't even have to perform any Bunshin no Jutsu to create clones._

_Tsunade's apprentice was about to swing forth her mighty fist when a hand seized her wrist. Sakura angrily turned around to see who it was. _

_She frowned._

_Sasuke._

_"Did you not hear her? Go away." _

_With a graceful spin, Sasuke rescued Sakura from the stranger and pushed her behind him. The Sharingan user glared at the offender._

_"_Now_."_

_The now partnerless, and frankly pissed, other stepped forward challengingly._

_"And if I don't?"_

_"Then I'll kill you."_

_The assertive threat was taken seriously. By the business-like tone Sasuke had used to the stranger, the man knew he wasn't joking. He threw a dirty look at Sakura and glared at Sasuke, scoffing. With that, he turned around and merged into the sea of people._

_Sasuke made sure to watch the man's back until he was a full fifteen feet away from them. Turning back to reprimand Sakura, he was met by empty space. _

_Grunting, he wished that he had obtained Neji or Hinata's Kekkai Genkai for a task like this. A simple mission to get Sakura out of the club without conducting a full-out manhunt was becoming increasingly difficult. _

Sasuke trekked about some more, tapping into his ninja-enhanced senses. Approximately five minutes later, he caught a trace of her grinding with a man from the Hidden Grass Village, a bottle of whiskey in hand.

_Her tracker shook his head, knowing perfectly well she wasn't called a light-weight for nothing. With one pernicious look at her new partner, he was ridded from one of the many problems that night had to offer him._

_Sakura seemed unperturbed by the disappearance of her partner and continued dancing. She cradled her hips while sticking back her bottom asset, stepping in place. The medic closed her eyes as if trying to shut out the image of Sasuke._

_When two hands were placed firmly on her shoulder, she wasn't surprised. Sasuke shook her roughly, sending flashes of pain through her head. Sakura burst forward, away from his grasp. She wondered if it was because of the pain or his touch. Whipping around, she stared him straight in the eye._

_"Uchiha Sasuke. All I wanted from tonight was to get away from my stupid feelings for you. But now you're prancing around in your sex-God glory, TEARING me away from every guy I meet! What is WRONG with you? If you won't let me have you, why won't you let me have ANYONE ELSE?" Her voice, already shrill from trying to be heard above the music, ascended a considerable amount as she yelled at Sasuke._

_The person she tongue-lashed scowled. "Sakura, you're drunk. You're not making any sense." _

_"Not making any sense? Not making any sense! I'll show you not making any-"_

_"Quiet. Stop making a scene and let's get out of here before I have to do something I'll regret." _

_Wild with fury, Sakura let out a maniacal laugh. "Are you threatening me?"_

_"No, I'm persuading you." _

_"Yeah? Well you suck at it!"_

_With one last comment, Sakura spun around sharply. Almost immediately, the second generation female Sannin blacked out, collapsing on the floor. _

---

"Oh no...," Sakura choked out, more to herself than to Sasuke.

"Are you done?"

The girl on the floor closed her eyes to try and reclaim her dignity.

'_Blame it on the alcohol...Just blame it on the alcohol...,_'

"Yes."

When she opened her eyes again, Sakura fixed her sights on the bedside table.

"Aa... I think I should go home now." she suggested, leaning forward to pull herself up.

As soon as she did so, Sakura felt a two pints of blood rush up to her head and fell back down.

"...Just kidding."

Sasuke continued looking down on her, arms crossed and all.

Without betraying any expressions, he offered a hand out. Sakura took a minute to register the fact that Uchiha Sasuke showed her a friendly gesture before grabbing it. Gradually, she rose to her feet despite the still evident dizzying sensation.

"You need to get home. Let's go."

Sasuke turned to leave the bedroom, leaving Sakura speechless in her wake.

- - - - -

Tenten, for one, felt _really_ good.

Really, _really_ good.

Sure, her limbs felt a bit on the heavy side, but it was nothing compared to the other days after intense sparring sessions. The kunoichi wasn't even aware what was making her feel so giddy and comfortable, but she knew she wanted to sleep in.

It was very rare for her to stay in bed. Given, she was a busybody, but the crisp sheets that kept her body warm were too alluring.

Tenten smiled brightly despite having her eyes closed and increased her grasp on the warm object beside her. Liking the feel of her 'teddy bear', she hooked her legs around it.

Inhaling a deep breath of air, she-

"NEJI! _Where_ was your kindle of fire this afternoon? Has some unfortunate blockade cease your plethora of youuuuuuth-"

**BAMTHUDCRASH!**

"-Oh my God, is that Tenten I see?"

The drowsy weapon mistress frowned and almost forgot to exhale. Knitting her eyebrows, she decided to ask:

"Is that Lee I hear?"

The girl jerked up from bed but regretted the sudden action quickly. Tenten suddenly gasped at the pain that punctured her head.

Said girl hissed and fell back. However, unlike when she just woke up, Tenten was finally aware of the foreign texture that wasn't normally one of a teddy bear's. Instead of the prickly soft hairs that covered the regular toy, the unknown object felt much smoother and...human?

Tenten slowly opened her eyes.

Even before the sight of blank and pupil-less eyes dawned before her, the girl already had a hunch what, or better yet _who_, she was going to see.

And lo and behold, the expected blank and pupil-less eyes were staring right back at her.

The two occupants of the bed exchanged speechless looks before craning their heads mechanically to see the third member in the room.

Neji and Tenten looked at Lee.

Lee looked at Neji and Tenten.

Tenten looked at Neji

Neji looked at Tenten.

Tenten looked at the bed sheets.

Neji looked at Lee.

Lee looked like he'd been brutally mauled.

Without any more _looks_, an abrupt CRASH! was heard again and the ancient-styled screen doors of Neji's room were shut. The shadow of Lee's retreating and disturbed form could be seen against the parchment covering the doors.

Long after the silhouette had disappeared and the couple was _still_ shocked and dumbfounded, a high and panicked cry could be heard through out the Hyuuga compound.

"**WHY?**"

-----

So for next time!

What will happen during Sasuke and Sakura's walk back to her apartment? Will something romantic or dangerous happen? And what happened to Neji and Tenten? How did they end up in the same bed without any clothing on them what-so-ever? And Naruto and Hinata? And the rest of Konoha's beloved bachelors? Find out next time in...

**Chapter Four: Surprises**

Review, por favor!

-stardust-chan


	4. Surprise

YAY, new update! Final-freaking-ly!

As you can see, I changed the summary for this story to actually _tell_ you guys what I have in store for the future plot. Chapter 4 (and possibly 5) isn't going to be in par in terms of humor as the rest, but that's only because I want to introduce the problems...and such. Don't worry though, the humor will definitely be there. Most, most, _most_ definitely after these two chapters. Anyway, get ready for a bit of action, because that's what you're going to be getting!

**Disclaimer: **So I don't own Naruto :O what else is new? I also don't own the song "Lying Is The Most Fun a Girl Can Have Without Taking off Her Clothes", which rightfully belongs to Panic! At The Disco.

-----

_Let's get these teen __**hearts**__ beating__** faster**__**faster  
**__-"Lying Is The Most Fun A Girl Can Have Without Taking Off Her Clothes," Panic! At The Disco_

-----

"He likes me more."

"No way, he gave me his bed!"

"I slept in it too, stupid!"

"So what?"

"So do you want a piece of me?"

"No, sweetie, I'd rather have the whole thing!"

"Well you're invited to KISS MY ASS!"

Shikamaru was ready to offer the Gods his body in return for peace.

There were two things that would turn right and dandy with that deed: one, there would be silence, and two, he'd be too dead to realize if the peace had shattered and violence broke out again.

The shadow manipulator had thought long and hard on what to do. When the cat fight had ended last night (seeing that both women were too drunk to continue), he simply threw the two over his shoulder and proceeded toward the exit.

It wasn't until Shikamaru noticed various awe-stricken teens stopping to stare at him as if he was Yondaime himself had something clicked. Ino's overbearingly short skirt was flashing everyone in front of him while his audience in back had a panorama of Temari's rack.

If he hadn't been carrying two drunken people, the strategist would have face-palmed many, _many_ times.

Shikamaru dashed out of the club and sat the women down. Within a quick second, the two were controlled by his Kagemane no Jutsu.

'_Trouble_sooooome.' he remembered himself groaning.

Now that he was free to collide his hand to his forehead as many times as he wanted to, Shikamaru filled his urge to do so (with the two women repeating him). Although he had only overcome the great troubles of getting two scantily clad kunoichis out of a bar without quarantines, kidnaps, and possible nosebleeds, there was an even greater trouble up ahead.

And that was getting them home.

He thought about Temari.

The Nara had no intention of facing an early death by battery/assault/gravel in the hands of the Kazekage. Please. There were cleaner ways to kill himself.

And then there was Ino.

He had known the Yamanakas through out his life, and he knew how much of a Daddy's Girl Ino was. Was he going to risk his life walking up to the Yamanaka's doorstep saying,

"Hi, it's me, Shikamaru, and I'm a safety abiding pedestrian who came to deliver your wasted daughter-"?

No. No he was not.

So between the intersection of his apartment complex and the direction of Temari's hotel and Ino's house, Shikamaru made a decision.

He was going to take them home.

Which brings about why he was holding his head between his hands right now.

He sighed.

Shikamaru crawled into the kitchen when he sensed Hurricane TemIno was going to make an encore presentation in his humble abode, seeking shelter near the side of the stove.

Maybe, if he tried REAL hard to pretend they weren't there, they would just go away...

- - - - -

Sakura was glad Sasuke had offered her one of his shirts. Though the concept had seemed odd, seeing that it was a hot summer afternoon, said shirt was sufficient enough to keep her appearance from being too risqué. Her frilly skirt was already pushing modest limits as they were walking down the street, attracting far too much speculation from wandering bachelors.

The pair continued walking, Sasuke with his hands shoved deep into the front pockets and Sakura's clasped together.

Occasionally, the boy would throw acidic glares at the accumulating male interest on his partner.

It was a rather normal day in Konoha. People milled around the latest sales and crowds littered the streets. The booming voices of vendors could be heard while skeptic shoppers bit back with bargains. Children of all ages dashed down the road with popsicles, laughing at their ongoing game of tag. Shinobis without a mission leaked into the street, happy that they could enjoy a day off.

She issued a quick peak at the man next to her, a faint blush creeping onto her cheeks.

Over the years, Sasuke had kept his infamous streak for being labeled the local heart throb. Although he had grown dramatically over the years (literally; at 6'1'', now in retrospect to looking down on some of the past teachers instead of up), there were still several features that remained unchanged. The Uchiha's hair was kept in the identical fashion as when Team 7 was formed, black eyes still livid and keen, and the same mysterious demeanor followed his every move

Clothing-wise, he traded his childhood outfit for another. Sasuke had dawned on a loose, long-sleeved navy shirt with a slit for an open collar. Inside, he stayed with the contemporary fishnet. A thin strip of yellow rimmed the edges of his shirt while a silver chain topped off the upper portion of his ensemble. For his pants, he stayed with the same white style he was familiar with for years.

'**Hehe... he's cute, isn't he?**' asked inner Sakura.

The outside Sakura found a quasi-giddy-dopey grin ebb itself onto her lips.

'_Hehe... ye-,_'

'-**Don't even THINK about it, genius!**'

Sakura snapped out of her daze. 'Who said I was thinking about anything!'

Inner Sakura 'psh'-ed.

'_Fine. So I was - for a _minute.'

'**Don't you dare! You're ABOVE that!**' her mind resolutely screamed.

The charge frowned. '_Well... he_ did _take care of me last night-_'

'**-**_**YEAH**_**, as any comrade should! He would've done the same for Naruto! He's only looking out for you so you wouldn't hurt yourself before another mission!'**

Sakura rolled her eyes. '_So what? It was still a nice thing to do._'

'**Don't you remember what he said to you?**'

The medic unconsciously stopped for a second, loosing their rhythmic strides.

She remembered.

And she remembered good.

---

_Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura were on their way home from a mission to the Water Country. The voyage back to Konoha had been more than successful with the expected three days cut down to two. Sakura had felt a wild thrill run up her body as she looked at her two partners from the corner of her eye._

_It was times like these when she truly appreciated what the years of trust, hope, and redemption did to the original Team 7. _

_The medic's lips were pressed together in an attempt to suppress a tempting smile. All the effort put into re-assembling their broken team was finally worth it. The once dysfunctional group had quickly learned priceless lessons together, now owing a great deal to each other for the shinobis whom they've become. _

_Praises given from other countries of how they will surpass their own teacher's exalted their reputation. After a sluggish period of forgiveness and vindication, the once mismatched Genin's had finally overcome their past and discovered how to use all their different qualities they brought to the table. _

_Sakura couldn't hold back her pride anymore. A proud smile took residence across her lips. _

_This was it. This was really it._

_"Eh...? What's so funny, Sakura?" asked the Kyuubi vessel, turning to give her a worried look._

_She quickly averted her eyes to the fleeting ground, biting back an appreciative laugh. "Aa... nothing Naruto."_

_Sasuke made a motion for the group to stop. It was enough distance for them to cover for now._

_After the ANBUs set up camp for the night, Naruto had offered to find food as Sakura went to inspect the Uchiha's arm. During the mission, Sasuke had overused his right arm after the enemy paralyzed his left. Sakura and Naruto were busy fending off the front gates while he crept inside, killing the real target. What the three didn't know was that beyond the entrance stood an army of Mist nins. Their prey was already expecting visitors._

_The fire Sasuke lit crackled heartily, basking the two figures with a red glow. Sakura put on a happy face, approaching her sedentary partner with a cheery smile. She began her task of massaging the wounded area with short pauses to rub on herbal lotion. Silence settled in._

_"Why are you always smiling?" Sasuke suddenly asked, his question sounding like an accusation._

_Sakura faltered and turned away for a second to recompose herself. She reached inside the kit to grab bandages as an excuse._

_"I... I guess I was just trying to be friendly." she said, a knot forming at her throat, as she began wrapping. _

_"We're only required to be teammates," he said as if reciting it out of a book. "Nothing more."_

_She felt the bandages slip from her hands as he got up, walking away from her. _

_It wasn't the only thing she let slip that night, because only an hour later, she felt the tears she'd secretly been saving up spilling onto her pillow._

---

"SAKURA!"

She automatically snapped out of her reverie and apply chakra to her feet, recoiling back a good fifteen yards. Sasuke had leaped onto the roof above her, a few shurikens already tucked between his fingers while the other ready to perform seals. Sakura, on instinct, reached to her right thigh but remembered she didn't wear her kunai holster.

'**Damn!**'

A sphere of fire pelted down on the spot Sasuke and Sakura had been a second before. The ground combusted beneath the pressure as the passerby's scattered into a scene of chaos. Crusts of rock shot straight at the crowd from the impending velocity.

The Uchiha activated his Sharingan as he craned his neck to scan the skies. Sakura decided to evacuate the area. Flailing her arms, she directed the crowd to either end of the street. Her voice escalated through the scene trying to be heard.

The fire slowly evaporated and a colossal depression dented the surface of the road. After the initial strike, a second wave of fireballs was unleashed, this time with an armada of bombs trailing behind.

Sasuke abandoned his pursuit for the attacker and began the seals for a counter attack. He curled his fingers at the end of his hand signs and sucked in a deep breath. With one powerful blow, he unleashed fire balls of his own and aimed for the incoming meteors.

"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"

The cancellation of fireballs lead to a flurry of fireworks, disrupting the bombs around it. Unfortunately, they were designed to be a pack of flower basket weapons, having one disperse into multiple after a hit.

"Sasuke!" Sakura yelled, pointing at the newly emerged explosives.

Said shinobi raced across the roofs until he reached the estimate center of the bombs. With one large sweep of his arms from low to high, Sasuke released the shurikens into the sky. The projectiles clashed with the incoming objects and made a BANG that could rival a queue of explosive tags.

The remaining bombs continued their deadly course toward the ground. Sasuke threw a second round of shurikens and performed another set of hand signs.

"Katon: Karyuu Endan!" bellowed Sasuke, a river of flames flowing from the opening of his mouth. The stream fanned out into a massive arc, disintegrating the bombs with its heat. A stroke of crimson brushed across the sky as a little boy stepped back to spectate the impressive display, popsicle dropping to the ground in awe.

Out of the foliage of flames, a black shadow pierced through an opening, plunging straight toward Sasuke. The navy clad shinobi ceased the current of fire and sprung back before the bullet could crash into him.

The incoming missile impaled through the roof, leaving a hole marring the building. It sounded like the _thing_ had struck the foundation when the edifice exploded into irregular rubble.

Sasuke pushed off the crumbling cement, landing on another roof a few yards away. He shifted his feet in preparation for an incoming battle, blood red eyes narrowing at the disaster. Almost immediately, the shadow emerged from the ruins and appeared in front of him.

A rush of adrenaline surged through Sasuke at the sight of the enemy.

The wheels of the Sharingans churned.

"_You_!"

- - - - -

Sakura noticed the flaming crescent disappear from the sky, leaving the Konohan streets vulnerable to at least twenty more bombs. The medic let go of the child in her arms, scanning the street behind her to see if there were any remaining in the danger zone.

She heard her thundering heartbeat pound through her skin as the sight of a hypnotized child stare at the sky. Above him, two explosives were ready to pummel and bury his existence into the next world. Sakura sucked in a breath as she sprinted toward the boy, hands performing a set of seals.

'**DAMN IT! WHY would you be looking at fireworks at a time like this?**'

Sakura charged at the vertex between her and the bombs. Suddenly, an unexpected explosion erupted from behind, pushing her to the ground.

'_Shit! I'm not gonna make it!_'

Thinking fast and pushing even more chakra to her feet, Sakura got up and summoned a Bunshin. She set herself in front of the replica and continued her pursuit for the kid.

"Get out of the way!"

In one blurry moment, the copy tackled Sakura forward, sacrificing it's body for the hit as the prototype propelled forward.

The medic nin caught the boy and hugged him against her chest as the force from the blast sent them rolling. Recovering, Sakura cradled the child's neck like a baby while examining the skies to see if there were any more attacks.

"Lady, get your BOOBS outta my face!"

The petal haired kunoichi let the boy push himself off her. He gave her a weird look. Sakura glared back at him.

"What? You ungrateful little punk! I just saved your butt!"

Crossing his arms, the child bit back, "Are you kidding me? You just tried to molest me!"

"Molest you? _Molest _you! _Shut_ UP!" cried Sakura, scanning his limbs for injuries. "Are you hurt?"

The little boy shook his head. "No, but you are." he said, pointing at her scraped knees and arms.

Sakura brushed off the pain. "It's fine," she said, getting up. "Listen, you need to get away from here as fast as possible. Can you do that?"

The little boy's eyes met her's and nodded. Sakura smiled. "Good. Now, go!"

Her fleeting form reflected off the boy's iris as she made her way back to her partner.

- - - - -

"Get out of my way. You're not the one I'm after."

Sasuke snarled as he dodged another chain of attacks, unable to have time to execute his own. "Bullshit. If you weren't after me, you wouldn't fall out of the sky with enough force to demolish a mountain."

His opponent faintly smirked. "Just wanted to shut your mouth before you let any more hot air out, you know."

The two were fighting on the road now, adapting their steps to accommodate the shattered terrain. Sasuke was pushed back from the advancing assaults the other threw at him. His anger flared the elaborate array of tomoe's already dominating his pale features.

All he needed was one second... one second to-

**CRASH!**

The pair ricocheted back, a mushroom of dust appearing from their former spot. The flakes of grit stilled as the shadow of a woman appeared, one hand on her hip while her low pigtails whipped around the kanji letter 'gamble' from the bristling wind. The new crater she made shamed the rest to look like mere cracks in the road. In the middle stood the one and only, Tsunade.

Hand still resting on her hip, she raised an accusing finger at the older of the combatants.

"What are you doing here_, Uchiha Itachi_?"

Itachi looked at the Godaime with half lided eyes in obvious disinterest. Tsunade trained her eyes through the space behind the Uchiha's shoulder.

"I asked you what you were doing here, traitor! Answer me!"

Said traitor roamed his vision around the devastated area, taking in the environment. Slowly, he began to reply.

"My purpose here is not to cause trouble. I am only here to find someone."

"Chronic lying is bad for the soul, Itachi." spat Sasuke, performing the hand seals necessary for Chidori. Tsunade threw a glare over her shoulder that instructed Sasuke to stay put. The avenger narrowed his eyes back at the Hokage, ceasing his jutsu yet readying for combat nonetheless.

"Have you found the girl yet?" asked a beastly voice, deep with a human tone yet mixed with mutation. Sasuke and Tsunade rolled their eyes to the roof above them to see a shark-like figure leer down with his signature Samehada slung over his shoulder. Hoshigaki Kisame has arrived.

A tense silence fell over the group.

"No."

The sound of shoes meeting the desolated concrete ebbed their way to the shinobi's ears. Suddenly, the tapping slowed and finally stopped.

Sasuke, Tsunade, Itachi, and Kisame averted their eyes to Sakura, whose arms were still battered and a little out of breath. The girl looked back at the scene in confused eyes and wide eyes.

"Oh my...,"

-----

AND DONE! Hopefully my action scene at least _humored_ you guys --, I tried my best! As randomeggy pointed out, yes, indeed, these chapters are getting increasingly emo as they're progressing, but this is just to set a mood within the atmosphere of our beloved characters.

After the next chapter, I think my story will turn topsy turvy again and do its title justice in being chaotic. Just you wait :) Anyhow, hope you all review.

So what's going to happen with Sakura? Will two generations of the slug Sannin and a second generation of the snake Sannin be enough to defeat the Akatsuki duo? And what will become of the vendetta between the brothers? But aside from this tense moment, what about the others? Naruto and Hinata still hasn't made an appearance yet, and what about Neji and Tenten? How do _they_ cope with sharing a bed one fine afternoon after a wild night at the bar? Hmm? Hhhhmmm? HMMM?

Find out next in!

**Chapter 4:** **Problem**

-stardust-chan


	5. Problem

**QUICK NOTE:**

**For all you Neji/Tenten lovers, you should skiddaddle on over to my other Naruto fic called Seducing Neji. It has hints of Sasu/Saku, Naru/Hina, and Shika/Ino. **

**Disclaimer :** Kishimoto Masashi owns Naruto, which owns me. EDIT: Also, the song "The Game," is by Disturbed. Sigh I have nothing.

-----

_If you even **think** to **look** the **other way  
**__I think that **I might kill this time**.  
__-"The Game," Disturbed_

-----

"Stay back, Sakura."

She, on instinct, buckled her knees as her eyes strained to understand the scene in front of her. Sasuke stood closest to her while his brother the furthest. Tsunade was poised between the Uchihas while Hoshigaki Kisame – an Akatsuki member she read about in the ANBU archives – leaned over the roof overlooking the street.

"What's going on?"

Kisame mutely chuckled. "This will be entertaining."

All of a sudden, the two Akatsuki figures flickered their bodies toward the lone girl. Their speed was so fast they seemed to be shadows with the wind.

"Sakura?" Tsunade yelled. "Run!"

Before Kisame had time to spike down his Samehada, Sakura already felt his presence and dived forward. Sasuke volleyed a handful of shurikens toward the shark man to buy her time to gain her footing.

"Let's go." He challenged, as the Samehada wielder finished discarding his launched weapons. Sasuke jumped on the flat of the blade, sinking the sword into the ground. The wrappings that once bound the Samehada tore apart. Sakura saw the opening he gave her and recoiled to the direction she came from.

- - - - -

The moment Sakura retreated, Itachi appeared about thirty feet in front of her, speeding forward. She automatically split stepped and clenched her jaw, waiting for him to come closer. The cloaked figure moved lightning fast despite the loose fabric holding him back. Sakura launched a titanic punch, striking her fist straight into Itachi's face.

His form dissolved, replaced by a huge boulder. Her gloveless hand drove through the rock and demolished it.

'_Shit!_' she cursed, berating herself on how she was fooled by such a basic technique. Instead of the normal substitution of a log, Itachi switched with a boulder. Chunks of the combusted rock crashed to the ground as Sakura searched for the Missing Nin. She was about to take off from the ground when the real Itachi materialized behind her.

"You can come with me and end this, right now, little girl."

She didn't even have time to react when he executed the hand signs for a fire based attack. Flames pelted down on her back accordingly.

The medic choked back a cry and felt herself being forced forward by the fire. "You wish!" Sakura barked.

'_His timing's perfect!_' she thought, recoiling with her own counterattack. She flipped her body over before landing, sweeping Itachi's feet off the ground in the process. Her enemy merely jumped and sent more fireballs at the vulnerable kunoichi, only to have her roll away.

'_Damn it, if I keep on going back then I'll lead these two into the center of the village!_'

She reversed her tactic fleeing, now trying to fend off Itachi as best she could. He forced her against the buildings as he targeted lethal Taijutsu near her vital organs. The ANBU anticipated his punch directing at her head and dropped down immediately, a flurry of blue chakra forming around her hands.

Itachi recognized the Ninjutsu, Chakra no Mesu, through his Sharingan and pulled back his fist. Before he did so, however, Sakura's fingers managed to scrape against the side of his wrist. He faltered slightly as the kunoichi noticed her opening and tackled him. The two went skidding toward the center of the road.

In midair, Sakura planned to jump ahead using Itachi as leverage and leaving him plummeting to the ground. As soon as she tilted her weight forward, though, the Uchiha caught her by the ankle and chucked her to the ground first.

Sakura's body rocketed down and created a massive dent upon impact. A pained cry escaped from her mouth as she willed herself back up, hovering a healing hand on various body parts.

Although her effort was prolonging his presence inside Konoha, she, herself, was enduring a brutal beating. The parasitic exchange of damage began taking its toll on her body.

"I told you to run!" yelled Tsunade from afar.

"I can't!" she yelled back, breathing heavily. She wiped a mist of sweat covering her forehead.

'_So this is Sasuke's brother_,' Sakura thought, glaring indirectly at the Akatsuki member. She felt like screaming for help but her rationale told her otherwise.

"What do you want with me?"

Itachi didn't respond, but instead advanced forward. Upon his fourth step, he flickered his body once again and materialized in front of her. The next thing Sakura knew, she was staring into a mass of black.

The younger slug Sannin noticed the older man bring his fingers toward his mouth, ready for another fire attack. She jumped over Itachi and landed behind him.

Once she righted herself, Sakura pushed the last storage of her chakra to her fist, swinging it down on him.

"Ugh," she grunted, "_Die_!"

- - - - -

Before Sasuke knew it, Hoshigaki Kisame switched places with his brother. No longer was he trying to evade the wild slaughter attacks by the Samehada, but a cannon of fireballs shooting from Itachi's mouth.

'_What? Where is he?_' he thought, whipping his head around.

The younger Uchiha finally spotted Sakura smash her fist against the same part of the sword he had jumped on earlier – then slumping down. A sleek line slithered from the blade of the Samehada to its guard as it swallowed the medic's blow – as well as her chakra.

"What are you doing?" He yelled, canceling out his brother's attacks with his own.

Tsunade skillfully weaved between the brothers' Ninjutsu while inserting her Taijutsu. Her effort trying to hurt the opponent suddenly became harder with the Uchiha brothers battling it out at high speed. If her timing was off by even a second, she could hit Sasuke with her punch instead of Itachi.

Compact spheres of fire down poured at the Godaime and Sasuke, forcing them to jump back.

The younger Uchiha glowered at the Hokage. "Stay out of this."

"You're in no position to tell me what to do."

Sasuke ignored the remark and sprang forward, pleased to see the blonde stay behind. He brought out a kunai as his brother mirrored his actions, both raising their weapons offensively.

"What the hell do you want with Sakura?" he asked, his Sharingan glinting wildly.

Kisame's partner remained nonplussed, but an etch of interest appeared across his eyes. "Are you jealous, little brother?"

He was taken aback when Sasuke flickered his body so fast that it took him off guard.

"Why should I be?"

The older of the two deflected the younger's stab and jumped backwards as they continued their fight in the air, twisting and bending to parry off the other's attack.

Itachi seemed like he was waiting for the question. "Maybe because I never bothered to come after you?"

Both of them slid another kunai from their sleeves and continued their fray. Sparks of fire ignited after each touch of the weapons.

"Or because I want to fight her, not you."

Sasuke bared his teeth as they pushed off each other upon impact, discarding the kunais. He leaped on top of one of the buildings as Itachi watched him from the ground. The male ANBU performed hand signs in a flash, preparing for Chidori. With one last seal, he gripped his left hand to the ground as an enormous amount of blue and white chakra enveloped around it, the sound of birds ringing.

The younger Sharingan wielder raced at his opponent. Within arms length, Itachi caught Sasuke by the arm, swinging him around twice before a piercing pain shot up his own. Sakura's blow was still affecting him.

The sudden falter caused his grasp to loosen considerably, flinging the younger ninja ruthlessly toward the center of a building. Sasuke maintained his Chidori and attached himself soundly onto the wall with chakra.

All around him, the glass burst forward from their frames and simultaneously shattered.

Itachi smirked. "You never answered my question."

"I don't need to."

"You're right," He chuckled. It was his first public display of mirth in years. "Soon there won't be anything to be jealous about."

Sasuke stole a quick glance over at Sakura. Tsunade had abandoned her pursuit for Itachi and turned her attention to Kisame. The Hokage was blocking the shark man from capturing her exhausted apprentice.

'_They're both fighting a loosing battle… his sword's the perfect counter for their enormous amount of chakra in their attacks,_'

His thoughts were pulled back to his own battle at the sound of Itachi's voice.

"Or maybe the appropriate feeling shouldn't be jealousy. It should be fear."

Sasuke was still perched on the side of the building, waiting for him to continue. "And why should I be afraid?"

Itachi smirked sadistically.

"Because I want your little girlfriend."

In a flash, Sasuke launched himself at his enemy, engraving zigzags on the building's wall as he dug his heels into the bricks. Itachi noticed Sasuke lower his body, ready to sweep him off his feet. Like with Sakura, the older prodigy jumped and sent a string of fireballs at the incoming figure.

Sasuke endured the attacks, but instead of sweeping Itachi off his feet, he mimicked the actions of Rock Lee years ago and kicked up.

Itachi dodged Sasuke's Taijutsu and noticed he was ready to unleash his Chidori. Before his younger sibling could even move his left arm, the Akatsuki member already pushed himself to the right, avoiding the attack.

"You should know by now that Ninjutsu is useless against Sharingan." Said Itachi monotonously, watching Sasuke pass him.

The brothers locked gazes with each other for a fleeting second. "But they're not against people who have our eyes."

When the Sasuke zoomed by, something finally occurred to him.

Sasuke deduced that Sharingan would naturally foresee the Chidori and as a result, Itachi would dodge the attack. By calculating which angle would be best when glancing over at Kisame and Tsunade's battle, Sasuke could feint a staged attack and help the two women.

Kisame barely had time to register the ninja approaching toward him. Sasuke pivoted his body at the very last moment, forcing the shark man to avoid off his attack. His attention on the Hokage vanished in his hasty self defense.

Tsunade saw the golden opening the ANBU gave her. With a huge wind up, she kicked up with her left leg and swung her right viciously at Kisame's dominant arm.

Not long after, Itachi appeared next to Sasuke.

"Interesting…," he mused. "What made you stronger?"

Sasuke growled. "I wouldn't tell people like you."

The older smirked gravely. "Play time's over."

Sasuke positioned himself in a battle stance.

"You die now."

- - - - -

Itachi's partner let out a beastly roar and looked back fiercely at Tsunade. The gulls accenting his eyes flared as he drenched the area mildly with water.

Tsunade bit her lip. '_This guy… I _know_ he has more power than that… what's he doing?_'

Followed by a string of seals, Kisame yelled, "Suiton: Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu!"

The Hokage watched as three puddles from the ground grew in mass and height as they transformed into duplicates of her opponent. The three hurtled at Tsunade immediately, tackling her away from her student.

"Sakura!"

- - - - -

Inbetween his brother's blitz attacks, Sasuke saw the real Kisame loom above Sakura's debilitated form.

Time seemed to stretch as he raised his monstrous sword above her head.

- - - - -

'_MOVE!_' she screamed to herself.

"MOVE, SAKURA!" she heard Sasuke yell.

In one dramatic moment, she released her grip from her impaired hand and lunged to the left. Kisame anticipated the evasion and performed a queue of seals in a flash.

"Suiton: Baku Suishouha!"

Gallons of water expelled from his mouth, engulfing Sakura and sending her crashing into a nearby shop's window. The sound of rushing water masked the sound of her body and screams piercing through the glass.

- - - - -

The last thing Sasuke saw before his brother blew out a sheet of fire was Sakura entering a local flower shop via the window. His worries for Kisame beheading her were gone, but now the idea of her drowning or fighting a loosing battle in an element natural to her enemy surfaced.

He tried feinting his attack again and escaping, going after her, but Itachi already anticipated the fake aggression.

"We're fighting, Sasuke, stay focused. One mistake and I can kill you faster than I wanted to."

The younger Uchiha replied with a sneer. "You can try."

Itachi noticed bright red commas surface quickly over Sasuke's body and fading into black just as fast. Without much more of a shout or hand signs, the Akatsuki member jumped away from him and pushed his open palm toward the ground.

Three rings of fire appeared, encircling the two brothers. They stood on a building higher than any tree surrounding Konoha and morphed into a hellish fighting environment.

"What are you doing here?"

"Isn't this what you want, Sasuke?"

The younger couldn't help but agree with his brother. It _was_ what he wanted – for a full twelve years now.

"I'm going to ask this again, _what _are you doing here?" he repeated, his tone razor sharp.

"To capture Sakura."

"Wouldn't you want Naruto, instead? What do you want with her?"

"Always so curious…," Itachi shook his head. "Why ask questions when I'm right here? All you've ever wanted was to kill me. Here's your chance."

"What are you waiting for, Sasuke?"

Sasuke's body froze like the time he confronted Orochimaru in the Forest of Death. But this time it wasn't Genjutsu – or any kind of technique – that disabled his movement.

'_Come on, Sasuke!_' he screamed to himself, willing himself forward. The brothers stood across each other.

'_Go to Sakura…_,' another voice suggested.

Sasuke gritted his teeth.

'_I've been waiting for this for twelve years. I am not waiting any longer._'

'_She's drowning_,'

_'Twelve_ y_ears_.'

'_Kisame's going to_ _get her,_'

'_He's right in front of me!_'

'_She's your comrade… She's your friend…_,'

'_She's _not_ my friend,_'

'_But that doesn't mean you can watch her die_,'

'_But I am _so close,'

'_She didn't let you die_,'

Silence.

'…_will you let her?'_

"I'm waiting." Itachi said tauntingly, interrupting the younger's reverie.

"I don't _need_ your invitation," spat Sasuke, "I will kill you in due time in my own way."

"Trust me, Itachi; you _will _die in my hands." It sounded more of a promise than a threat.

For the first time in his life, Sasuke was the one who turned away from his brother. The avenger propelled himself forward from the series of fire rings and raced toward the horizontal geyser Sakura had fallen victim to. Water rushed and swirled around Sasuke as he dived into the currents, letting it guide him to her.

- - - - -

'_I can't move!_' Sakura thought frantically, trying to wiggle out from the fallen counter. Her eyes widened.

'_I can't… I can't breathe!_'

The water had forced her into the basement after knocking her into various objects. She brought a struggling hand to her mouth, trying to sustain any last bit of oxygen she could hold. Her chest tightened uncomfortably at the force the water pushed against her.

Already in a darkened environment, Sakura's eyes began to loose touch of color as her air supply diminished. Her viridian eyes slowly drooped. A rush of air escaped from her mouth.

'_No!_'

Sasuke spotted her limp body. He swam to the fallen counter and pushed it off her, steadying her unconscious form afterwards.

The male ANBU held her by the shoulder as his other hand tilted her chin to the left. He pressed his lips against hers and expelled a long breath of air into her mouth. A few bubbles escaped and ascended as the two were suspended in water. Flower petals floated around the scene, making the scene amidst the continuing battle almost romantic.

It took a few seconds before she slowly opened her eyes. As soon as they did, though, they fluttered wide instantly.

'Sa-Sasuke!'

He, in return, pushed off gently and reopened his own eyes. Sasuke took her wrist and put a soldier pill in her hand.

Before the couple could interact further, Itachi knocked Sasuke away from Sakura. The girl almost gasped in surprise but managed to catch her mistake. She quickly shoved the soldier pill into her mouth and swallowed it, feeling a quick regeneration in her chakra.

Without healing her injured arm, she swam desperately to one of the walls of the building. Nearing it, she focused chakra to her left arm then directing all of the newfound energy toward her fist. Sakura swung at the wall, its vibration disturbing the water from even across the basement.

'**C'mon, C'MON!**'

A fracture appeared at first, but the wall showed no signs wavering. She punched again at the crack and added onto its length, the cut now extending from the center of the wall to the ceiling of the basement.

Her fist stung after the second punch and was soon rendered numb as she desperately drove her fist again and again into the wall. The small fissure already branched out to the corners and it was only time until Sakura crumbled the entire building.

'**Let's GO!**' her inner-self motivated as she swung at the wall for the sixth time. Her fist finally pushed through the cement.

Sakura whipped her head around to check on her teammate. Sasuke and Itachi were fighting among the various petals swirling at the direction of their attacks.

Turning back, the medic jabbed her fist once more, making the hole in the wall bigger. Swimming to the opposite wall, she gave the same treatment to it as she did the first one.

'_Yes!_'

Sakura summoned another burst of chakra and rammed her fist into the punctured surface. The entire building groaned softly under her blow.

Even more hopeful, she swam back to the first wall. The girl punched at it again, and the same response came.

Sakura stopped herself this time from being too hasty and waited for the soldier pill's chakra to fully course through her body. She turned around to find Sasuke again, but the Uchiha brothers were fighting in the darker portions of basement.

Satisfied that she took enough time to let the pill sink in, Sakura pumped chakra into her left hand. The kunoichi reeled back and punched the wall with all her might, and to her surprise, a huge crevice appeared in the wake of her hit.

The wall crumbled to pieces in slow motion as it slowly began sinking toward the ground. Water gushed out from the cracks and Sakura suddenly realized they were going to be caved in.

She frantically looked around for an exit but to no avail. The building was crumbling fast.

Sasuke and Itachi were still fighting in the corner furthest away from her, the darkness obscuring her sight.

Sakura covered her head and ducked near the wall she damaged least, bracing herself.

- - - - -

Tsunade spared a quick look over her shoulder. The building Sakura, Sasuke, and Itachi were in suddenly collapsed, a deep slope splitting the shop in half. A great haze of dust appeared above the rubble while water streamed out from the bottom.

- - - - -

Sakura winced as her right arm brushed against a jagged edge of a rock. She shoved – what she estimated – the last layer of rock between her and fresh air.

As she had thought, the late afternoon sun shone bright against her wet face. The medic pushed herself up from the rubble and coughed violently.

Before the kunoichi had time to stabilize herself even more, she was picked up by the waist fast, her predator carrying her bridal style.

Sakura wanted to scream. Terror paralyzed her voice box from projecting a shriek as she realized it was Sasuke – a _changed _Sasuke – who was carrying her. She heard her heart hitch up an extra beat as she lay, rigid and scared, in his arms.

Sasuke noticed Sakura tense and looked down, his violent red eyes staring down at her frightened ones. He jerked up a second later and scanned the area for Itachi.

The girl finally managed to choke out his name. "Sa-Sasuke?"

Her orbs finally tore away from his face as she looked down at his viciously sharp claws. She felt herself shudder violently against him. This was Sasuke in his level two Cursed Seal form.

The shinobi seemed ignorant to her emotions as he looked around frantically for his brother. He climbed the side of a building and reached the top, his red pupils roaming over the Konohan roofs. The avenger was about to jump when a reversed waterfall of fire shot up the side of the building.

Soon, Sasuke and Sakura were trapped in an arena of fire. Itachi emerged from the flames opposite of the couple.

The young snake Sannin hugged the medic closer to him. Sakura stared at his fangs, terrified, as he whispered two words to her.

"Trust me."

With that, Sasuke grabbed Sakura by her hand and threw her high up into the air. She felt her heart soar with her body as she passed one of the flaming walls surrounding the building. As soon as she got to the highest point, gravity pulled her back down at an alarming rate. Her heart felt light as she lurched toward the ground.

Suddenly, Sasuke's morphed form appeared in front of her vision.

He reached out to grab her, but her heart stopped.

And for a second, she lost her senses.

She couldn't feel the thrill of falling as she missed her partner's hand, smell the scent of burning wood that filled the atmosphere, taste the smoke as it rushed up her mouth, see the inferno she was plummeting into, or hear Sasuke scream for her.

The next second, she felt herself being caught by an orange and black clad shinobi - the third component that made up the original Team 7. Regaining her senses, she looked up at a familiar proud grin.

"Uzumaki Naruto here! _YEAH!_"

-----

Oh my friggin God. 2:20 AM. I swear, every time I finish these chapters, it's always two in the morning. It's a curse!

But on the lighter note, I FINISHED! I practically imprisoned myself in front of the computer for a good … **12 hours** - 12 hours! - to finish this chapter and listened to replay after replay of "The Game" by Disturbed. Honestly, this was, and I think will be, the hardest chapter to complete. But good God, it's DONE! And I've got a good chunk of my agenda out of the way.

So aside from my bitching, I'd like to give **A –** **HUGE – THANK – YOU – TO – ALL – MY - REVIEWERS!**

But as for next time! What does Itachi _really_ want with Sakura – and how's she going to react? How will the battle change now that Naruto entered the stage? What's Sasuke take on all of this? And Tsunade and Kisame's battle? Who's winning? And what the hell happened to the rest of their friends?

Find out next time in…!

**Chapter 6: Solution**

Don't forget to check out **Seducing Neji**!

-stardust-chan


	6. Solution

**Disclaimer: **Naruto and co. belongs to Kishimoto Masashi. "Seventy Times 7," is written by Brand New.

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_I **played** it** quiet**, **left** you **deep** in **conversation**"  
-"Seventy Times 7", Brand New_

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Sasuke stared blankly for a moment, arm still outstretched. He watched Naruto look doggedly up at him with a stunned Sakura in his arms.

The Uchiha recomposed himself.

"Stupid Prince of Sass…," he muttered. The Sharingan wielder withdrew his arm and averted his attention to the spot behind him, only to find it empty. Sasuke cursed and scanning the area for Itachi.

"Naruto, watch out!" Sakura suddenly screamed, jerking Sasuke's attention back to his teammates.

The blonde shinobi jumped forward, twisting his body in the process and hurled a volley of weapons at the cloaked figure. "Eat shuriken, PUNK!"

Itachi caught the projectiles in midair with a sweep of his robe and sent them back to Naruto. The Kyuubi vessel quickly used a Bunshin to tackle the two out of the way.

Sakura and Naruto eyed each other for a moment before the latter took the girl by the hand and flung her at Itachi. She wound up her right arm, summoning chakra to her fist.

As she neared him, the Akatsuki member merely used the same counter he did with Naruto's shuriken and drew her into his robe. He caught hold of her wrist and chucked her to the ground.

Sakura growled in frustration, looking up at the black cloak. Itachi merely smirked. "What's wrong? You almost had me."

Sasuke stepped off from the two narrow sides of the building, racing down to meet Sakura's falling form. He pivoted with his left foot and sprang up to catch her, then changed course to scale up the wall once again.

A sound of rushing water suddenly echoed through the street. Before Sakura had enough time to register what the sound was, Sasuke tightened his grip on her.

"Brace yourself!"

A tremendous tidal wave hit them, knocking the two off the wall.

Sakura felt as though her neck would snap against the stabbing pressure. Sasuke finally stabilized within the currents and jumped out. The pair landed safely on the roof of a building.

Two buildings next to theirs, Naruto and Tsunade stood standing, facing the roofs of the opposite direction. Sakura traced their line of vision to the two dark figures on the other side.

Itachi and Kisame stood together, making a perfect triangle that went from Naruto and Tsunade, Sasuke and Sakura, to them.

"I hate repeating myself, but I'm not here to look for trouble. Hand over the girl now."

Sasuke stood his ground and glared back at his brother. "No."

Itachi moved his line of vision to the younger Uchiha and squinted his eyes.

Kisame smashed his Samehada to the ground in exasperation. "Damn it, enough already! You know-,"

Without breaking his eye contact with his little brother, Itachi scowled. "I _know_, now shut up."

Suddenly, Sasuke gripped Sakura by the shoulders tightly.

"Sasuke? What are you doing?"

Naruto started for the pair. "Bastard! What are you doing to Sakura?"

Tsunade grabbed him by the arm. "Stop, Naruto. If you get into that sort of thing, you'll be caught in a vicious genjutsu."

Sakura watched as Sasuke struggled to keep his eyes on the same plane as his brother's. The wheel's of his Sharingan were spinning rapidly, as if putting up a last self defense.

"Sakura! Look away from them, right now!" The Godaime ordered.

Her apprentice obliged quickly and turned her vision away from the Uchihas. She bit her bottom lip as Sasuke increased his grip on her shoulders.

Suddenly, she felt him push her forward toward Itachi.

The Konohan missing nin let out a silky chuckle. "Surely you could do better, brother."

"BASTARD! What do you think you're doing!"

"Shut _UP_ for a minute!" Sasuke gritted out.

Sakura tried pulling away from her teammates grip but realized his chakra from his hands were disabling everything form her shoulders down. Her legs were moving by his command. She frantically shook her head. "Sasuke!"

On the other side, Naruto looked wildly at Tsunade. "We have to do SOMETHING, woman!"

"Calm down! Can't you see he's trying to fight it?"

Sakura began to worry whether or not Sasuke was putting up a good fight. Although every step near the edge of the roof was a forced one, she couldn't help but realize they _were_ inching closer. Sakura heard Sasukes wings prepare for flight when they were just about to reach the end. All of a sudden, they stopped.

The pink haired kunoichi felt her composure drop when she was finally in control of her own body again. Sakura looked wearily back at Sasuke, only to see him at a loss of composure himself.

From afar, Itachi whispered. "You were always such a fool...,"

"You bastard of a brother, I am going to KILL you where you stand-,"

"You and _what_ army, little brother?"

Just before Sasuke was going to reply, Sakura cut in. "Us, Itachi - Me and Naruto!"

The younger Uchiha gave her a look as if telling her to stay out of his business. Sakura ignored the glare she was blatantly given and stared indirectly at Itachi.

"Is that so?" The older drawled.

"Yes."

"Then we'll be seeing you soon, Sakura."

Sasuke cut her off this time. "_What_?"

Kisame decided to interject, as well as end the discussion. "Our work for today is done. You know what harm we can do to the village and you _know_ what will happen if you don't come with us."

"Consider this an ultimatum. If you put up a fight, your little village will be destroyed. If you come willingly, we won't touch a single thing." Itachi said.

"Only one man has ever defied the Samehada. He is with me, and you are in front of me. Choose carefully," Kisame offered.

Sakura ignored the statement. "What? I don't get a time limit?"

Itachi turned to leave. "Don't think about it. The only thing that should be on your mind now is whether you object or agree with the offer. We'll be checking regularly."

The kunoichi now stared at the older Uchihas back.

"Wait!" She started, "What do you want from me?"

Itachi stopped. Kisame looked down at him out of the right corner of his eye.

There was a brief silence.

"The best healers in the world, Sakura,"

He took two more steps forward.

"Are the wounded ones."

Slowly, Sasuke watched as the man who ruined his childhood dissipate into the air leaving a trail of smoke, his partner soon following him. His cursed physique began to subside, returning him back to his original form. With a blink of his eye, his Sharingan was deactivated as well.

The four stood tensely, letting the problem, the clue, and the ultimatum sink in. Shards of glass, fallen debris, and broken branches washed over the deserted street from the remaining waters as they planned their next step.

- - - - -

"Hyuuga!"

Lovely. He _hated_ the smell of dog in the morning.

Neji had just stepped off the Hyuuga grounds when he heard Kiba and Akamaru scramble up the hill that led to his home. The prodigy looked deadpanned as Kiba dismounted off Akamaru.

"Well a good morning to you, too, Sir Holier-Than-Thou Neji."

"What is it? I'm on my way to my mission."

The almost-dog incarnate shook his head. "No can do, I just got a message from the ANBU office telling me to substitute for you. They need you to help out with some internal issues."

Neji looked skeptical. "Such as...?"

Kiba shrugged. "From what I heard, the main road is a mess."

"So they want me on garbage duty?"

The dog user shrugged.

"Doesn't that sound wrong to you?"

"I d'know," Kiba sniffed, taking a treat from his pocket and giving it to Akamaru. Suddenly, his nose twitched and he jerked his head toward the genius, eye twitching.

"Dude, I never knew you were a vanilla buff!" He cried, tone accusing. He sniffed some more. "You smell like a _chick_!"

Neji visibly stiffened. "_Calm_ yourself, Inuzuka. You're smelling things."

"Yeah...," Kiba said, sniffing the air some more and squinting his eyes for concentration. Suddenly, they widened in realization. "Tenten!"

The older boy briskly turned and strode away, putting his mask on. "I'm leaving before I_ drown _in your stupidity."

- - - - -

"Shizune, contact the ANBU office and tell them to speed up that list! Increase the security on all gates and put more people on patrol around the perimeter. Tell Genma to rack up any shinobi without a mission to clean up the main road. Get a team of medics to...,"

Tsunade continued to list off a 'To-Do' list to the Jounin as the latter released Tonton free to roam the floor. Shizune quickly grabbed a pad and jotted down the Godaime's orders.

Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura plopped themselves down in front of the Hokage's desk. A soldier pill was shoved in their hands upon arrival. Both Sasuke and Sakura still looked a little worn, but Naruto still had as much energy as his twelve-year-old self.

"Wow, Naruto," Tsunades first apprentice speculated as soon as the list was done. Her tone somewhat dispelled the serious air around them. "Looks like you've got more energy than a sugar rush."

"YOU BET I DO! If Itachi lands one _FINGER_ on Sakura...,"

"Idiot, he already has and then some," scolded Sasuke.

Sakura frowned and looked up at him from the corner of her eye. She unconsciously stroked her right arm gingerly, the affects of the Samehada still lingering.

"Which means we need to protect her," offered Tsunade, looking up from a note she just scribbled and handing it to Shizune.

"Protecting her isn't enough. We have to attack, too." The Uchiha countered.

"Well what do you think, Sasuke? Should I plunge into the whole Akatsuki crisis which took ages for Konoha to get out of?"

"Sooner or later, you know Konoha has to do something about Akatsuki. I suppose you send-,"

Sakura cut him off. "Wouldn't it be better-,"

"No."

She glared at him, ready to fire back a remark but Tsunade spoke up.

"You were saying, wouldn't it be better to send out some ANBUs for the job?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Somewhere along the lines of that."

The Godaime frowned. "You know that's like giving a direct order for a group to die, right?"

"Yes, but as shinobis - ANBUs, they already know their lives are on the line for every mission."

Naruto turned his head to glare at Sasuke. "Man, are you _that_ heartless, Sasuke? A life is a life, there's nothing great about dying!"

"Exactly," Sakura started, "which is why I think I should-,"

"I would _think_ people who have enough of a mind set to sign up for ANBU aren't intimidated by death, don't you agree?" Sasuke asked staring into Naruto's intense eyes.

"Jeez, will you just let me talk-,"

"What are you saying, Sasuke? That I don't have enough will to die for my village?" The Jinchuuriki growled, pushing his chair aside and standing up. The previous statement made by his long time rival obviously offended his equally long time dream of becoming Hokage.

"I'm saying whatever you want me to say." The Sharingan wielder replied, although his eyes were no where as cool as his tone.

"That I won't die for Sakura?" continued the Nine-tails, fist clenching.

Sasuke sat calmly and looked at the blonde through taunting eyes. "Am I angering you, Naruto?"

"Sasuke, stop provoking him!" chided Sakura, smacking him lightly on the arm. "And Naruto, calm _down_!"

The fox boy ignored her. "Short answer: yes. Long answer: HELL YES!"

Just before the Jinchuuruki was about to lunge at the Prodigy, Tsunade called out. "NARUTO, this is no time to act like a child! For the sake of Sakura, we need to figure out a plan!"

The orange clad Shinobi 'Che'-ed and crossed his arms, giving Sasuke one last glare before plopping down on his chair.

"Anyways," the receiver of said glare started. "The other option is, like you said, giving Sakura protection. But as any of us should know, minus Naruto-,"

"-Go to hell-,"

"-When dealing with this kind of situation, we need set traps, get top of the line protection and etcetera, around the target of the enemy. Remember the Chuunin exams?"

Tsunade nodded.

"In the Forest of Death, many Genins nearing the final day set traps up around the tower. The reason for this was to ambush the other teams heading toward their target - the tower - and get their scrolls. The same objective occurs here, except we don't need to get any scrolls and instead just capture, better yet kill, Itachi and Kisame."

The younger medic looked down at her folded hands. As critical as the situation was, she couldn't help but feel hopeful at the thought of Sasuke thinking so much of her safety.

The original slug Sannin leaned back in her chair and inspected Sasuke. "So you're saying station as many shinobis around Sakura as possible?"

Sasuke shook his head slightly. "Not exactly. Itachi and Kisame would catch on to what we're doing and get angry. By then they'll probably destroy a good part of Konoha," he shrugged. "I'm thinking one person is enough for the job, especially when we're within our own borders."

"Don't you think it'd be a lot easier if I-," Sakura started again, but Naruto spoke up loudly.

"I'll do it!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes at the outburst. "No, Naruto, you won't."

The neo-toad Sannin felt his eye twitched. "Why not?"

"You care for her too much. Your feelings will get in the way of the mission."

"What the hell kind of answer is that!" Naruto roared. "And just what _is_ the mission anyway? Are we trying to protect Sakura or kill Itachi?"

The green eyed kunoichi glared at her two companions. "Will you two be quiet?"

Sasuke ignored her, although her question soaked up the brief speechlessness he had after Naruto's question. "Both."

Sakura was annoyed for being ignored and cut off, but touched by the two by arguing over her well being. The recent answer, though, threw the medic nin completely off as she felt her heart jerk a bit too violently.

"You're using Sakura as bait, aren't you?" accused Naruto, standing up once more.

"Please, just shut. Up," breathed Sakura, almost pleadingly. She didn't want to hear anything else Sasuke had to say about his plans.

"Whether I am or not isn't up to me anyway. I'm just saying, we can kill two birds with one stone." Sasuke rationed smoothly.

"You cruel son of a bitch, how can you even _think_ about using Sakura like that? It's dangerous! She's not a puppet!"

"Listen up, Naruto," snarled the dark haired shinobi, standing up as well, "Your stupidity is really taxing on my patience. Don't you understand that it's better to risk a life of one than put a hundreds of people in danger?"

Sakura put her head inbetween her hands. "Stop it, both of you!"

"No, YOU listen up, you bastard," retorted Naruto, "Stop hiding your real intentions with some noble reasoning! We all know you wanted to kill Itachi ever since you were a kid!"

"Shut up!" yelled Sakura.

The Uchihas bloodlimit eyes flashed red. "No doubt I want to kill him-,"

"WHAT THE HELL! I ASKED FOR SILENCE, YOU'RE GONNA GIVE ME SILENCE!"

Sasuke and Naruto glared at each other one last time before sitting down in unison. The boys looked at their female teammate.

"Wouldn't it be better if I just go to Itachi?"

"No?" Sasuke and Naruto bluntly said.

"Seriously, guys, it'd spare a lot of lives. Like you said Sasuke," she turned to look at Sasuke wearily, "It's better to risk one life instead of hundreds."

"Sakura...," Naruto trailed off as Tsunade studied her apprentice.

She continued, "I'm touched by your concern... but I really think this is the best way. I don't want anyone dying for or because of me."

There was a brief silence while the others brewed over the proclamation. It was Sasukes even tone that brought the others back to reality.

"Well if your only goal is to not hurt any more people, then I think your suggestion was the worse of them all."

Naruto spoke for Sakura, though the girl looked offended. "What?"

"Didn't you hear Itachi? He probably wants you to heal his eyes. Using the Mangekyou Sharingan too much damages them. If you go to him, you'll only be helping him kill."

The other three shifted in their seats, now without a third alternative.

"I'm willing to accept this mission."

A pair of green, blue, and hazel eyes turned to Sasuke.

Tsunade looked at the Uchiha squarely. "You want to be appointed as Sakura's bodyguard?"

The raven haired boy nodded. "Yes."

"Sakura?" Tsunade questioned for her apprentice's approval.

"...No."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes and looked at her. "What do you mean, 'no'?"

"She means she doesn't want your shrimpy ass protecting her from Itachi." Naruto pitched in, leaning back on his chair and clasping his hands behind his head.

"Shut yourself," commanded the Sharingan wielder, sweeping the leg of the said chair off the floor. "Sakura, you can't handle someone like Itachi alone."

"Maybe not," Sakura began, "But he's apart of the Akatsuki and so was Sasori. I helped defeat him."

"Exactly, you _helped_ defeat him, which means you didn't do it by yourself. Now stop making this more difficult than it already is and just ask for help when you need it!"

"Ouuuu," jeered Naruto, looking back and forth between his teammates from the floor.

"Shut _up_, Naruto!" yelled Sakura, glowering. "I didn't say I don't want _any_ help, I just don't need YOURS!"

The Uchiha heir stood up suddenly, causing the chair behind him to fall over.

"Damn it, Sakura, do you want to DIE?" he asked, glaring wildly into her eyes. "You can't judge the power of the Akatsuki based on the select few you fought. Think of the group in total compared to the small fraction you came in contact with. Is it _justified_ that you can defeat any member without help?"

Sakura mimicked his actions and pushed her chair back, standing up. "First of all, didn't you hear me? I never said I could. Second of all, I'm just saying I don't want someone like_ you_ as my bodyguard!"

The Hokage tried to calm her student down. "Sakura, you _know_ Sasuke's one of the best shinobis Konoha has to offer. And besides, I thought you two were... friends."

Sakura, although not intentionally, shot Tsunade an icy look. "We were _never_ friends. I really don't think he gives a damn about me personally."

"Emotions hardly have a say in this and my lack of it proves I'm adequate-,"

"No way you're doing this!" Sakura shouted, cutting Sasuke off. "Tsunade, I refuse!"

Without another word, Sakura exited the Hokage's office, fuming. A well planned slam had noted the end of her presence.

Naruto whistled. Sasuke didn't need his Sharingan for the dangerous look he shot at him. "I can, and _will_, kill you."

The tanner one of the two pushed himself off the ground and waved his hands around tauntingly, wiggling his fingers. "Oh, nice, nice, Sasuke, _very_ creative!"

Without a second thought, the irked shinobi turned and swung a vicious blow to Naruto's jaw.

"ENOUGH!" yelled Tsunade, turning her chair around to relieve her from a stressing sight. She faced the panorama her office window offered her of Konoha to sort out the problem at hand.

The argument was certainly not expected from her apprentice and the younger Uchiha prodigy, as she heard rumors circulating about their possible relationship.

Tsunade weighed her choices.

She could always reassign Sakura to another person. Rock Lee would certainly come to her aid, Hakate Kakashi has always been a strong player for Konoha, and Uzumaki Naruto cherished her like a sister he never had. Hyuuga Neji was also another alternative.

However, Lee would have a hard time fighting Itachi with his attention focused at his opponent's feet. Even with the new tactic, it would be a huge disadvantage compared to Sasuke or Kakashi. He had also never formally fought an Akatsuki member and the inexperience wasn't promising.

Dispatching Naruto for Sakura's protection would be like giving Itachi a surprise Christmas present in July. He would capture the target _and_ the Jinchuuriki. To further her opposition with the fox boy, he might lose control of his Kyuubi powers and endanger everyone.

So this meant Neji and Kakashi were her two top candidates.

The woman Hokage twined her fingers together.

Neji has the gift of the Byakugan and it'll be the battle of the Kekkei Genkai if a Hyuuga and an Uchiha were to duke it out. Neji excelled in Taijutsu, Ninjutsu, and speed, as well as developing the rest of his capabilities to an advanced level. But like his childhood teammate, the Hyuuga had never faced a true Akatsuki alone in a full battle. The most experience he and Lee had with said group was a lesser version of Kisame five years ago, and even the reports told Tsunade they contributed very little in the fight.

Then there was Kakashi, the only man alive that acquired the Sharingan without being an Uchiha. Given, the Raikiri creator was still a top notch ninja with his name sky high on foreign countries bingo books, but to endure the Mangekyou Sharingan again was never something one should do twice. On the other hand, the perverted shinobi _had_ fought against Itachi before and having one Sharingan was better than none.

But then again... having _two_ Sharingans were better than one.

The slug summoner cursed silently. Too much thinking was going to cause wrinkles again.

Tsunade had almost forgotten the other two occupants in the room until a cough broke the silence. She could hear the light bulb in her head flick on after the realization. Advice was on high demands in the atmosphere, and she decided to take her chance to get it.

Slowly, the female Sannin began to ask her question.

"So Uchiha Itachi, an S-class missing nin and your brother, is after your past teammate, Haruno Sakura. She refuses your protection and is probably trying to sever all ties with you. What're you planning to do?"

Sasuke glared at the back of her chair.

"Marry her."

-----

Now before any of you review promising of my bloody and violent death, I have to say, I'm SORRY. Truly sorry. Oh so sorry. Damn, I'm sorry.

I could pull a Kakashi and say I got lost on the road of life to excuse my tardiness, but I really doubt even the great Copy-nin has been late for an unholy three months. Actually, I take that back.

My true excuse, however, and you can yell at me as much as you want for this, is school, tennis, vacation, and procrastination. Hell, I'm _still_ on vacation, but I've persuaded myself to write on and run headfirst through this writers block sort of haze - even if it means I get one paragraph done at a time.

But I'm back, damn it! After this chapter, I have most of the events planned out. I can't say if I'll be updating monthly (I'm still on vacation until the end of August), but I'll surely be working. Or at least I hope so. Currently typing to you all from China, by the way.

So yes, thank you to my gorgeous reviewers. I love you all.

I hope this chapter was up to your expectations. It took me forever to finally get that golden line out of Sasuke, but now this story is finally going somewhere.

So if you don't hate me too much, can you please review? Pretty please? Pretty pretty please with sugar on top?

And for another advertising spot on my part for my other story, please read:

**Humor Me**

**A Detective Conan romance/comedy that revolves around Shinichi and Ran with a side of Heiji/Kazuha and Kaito/Aoko.**

Anyhow, stay in tuned for** Chapter 7:** **Proposal**!

-stardust-chan


	7. Proposal

I'm sure many of you are pretty damn tired for reading about pure Sasuke/Sakura/Tsunade/Naruto/Itachi/Kisame yada ya for three consecutive chapters or so. So this chapter is going to have a few more characters thrown in just to make things more colorful.

**Disclaimer: **Naruto belongs to Kishimoto Masashi. There's going to be just one character in this chapter that belongs to me… and you'll just have to read on to find out! And oh yeah, there's ONE quote in here that I readjusted, I think I remember reading it somewhere but I forgot… but it just _had_ to be incorporated. Also, I moved the song previously from chapter five to here; which I'll also say: the song "Headstrong" belongs to Trapt.

-----

"_**Back off**, I'll **take you on**_

_**Headstrong** to take on **anyone**."_

_-"Headstrong," Trapt_

-----

Sasuke strode briskly to the main hospital of Konoha the next day. It was five minutes until three, which meant it was probably the only time to catch Sakura idle in her office instead of running around the building.

His mind wandered back to yesterday's events as he proceeded down the desolated road.

---

_Naruto didn't even bother getting up off the floor as soon as Sasuke muttered the two words. It would be a waste of energy, anyway, because even if he _was_ sitting again, he'd fall off his chair laughing._

"_Ah… and I thought you were serious for a minute."_

The Uchiha glared at him, "I am."

_Naruto gave his friend a hard look. It was true – he _was_ serious. _

_The Kyuubi boy always knew Sasuke to be the extremist out of the Rookie 9. As a mere child, he swore to kill his brother. As a Genin, he willingly _finds_ Orochimaru in the Sound. As a teenager, he understands and _allows for_ the bargain between him and the snake Sannin to carry on. As a prisoner on trial shortly afterwrd, he promises to take his own life, in front of the jury, in front of his friends, in front of Konoha, if he ever betrayed Konoha again._

_And now, apparently, the same boy he grew up with just decided to marry a girl he – unless otherwise stated – really didn't care about 24 hours ago._

"_Sasuke," Naruto said seriously, sitting back on the chair, "Are you just asking to be kicked in the balls?"_

_The Hokage was interested, herself, in his reasoning. "Explain."_

_Sasuke stood up and addressed Tsunade formally. "Godaime. We are dealing with the Akatsuki here – my brother and a previous Swordsman from the Mist. From the last battle's events, I'm going to take a wild guess and say Itachi's one looking for Sakura. That fact alone should put me at better odds against him than most, if not all shinobi. I've already explained why I'm the best person for the job, no need to repeat myself."_

"_But if Sakura isn't going to cooperate, fine, then I will just make her cooperate. Marrying her will give me the reason to be by her in case anything happens."_

_Naruto looked at the solemn face of his rival as he spoke his last sentence with uncertainty, and with fear. '_If by "reason," I hope you don't mean excuse._' He thought._

"_As a ninja of your status, I know you know that emotions should have, ideally, never been of concern in the first place. However, if you fear for your student's feelings, then give me some time. Please, Godaime, let me have this mission."_

_Tsunade seemed to reflect the same feelings as Naruto. She lowered her voice. "Tell me… is part of your reason for volunteering to avenge your clan?"_

_Naruto looked at the stoic face of his friend, waiting for the answer he already knew, but didn't want to confirm._

"…_Yes." _

_No one said anything as Tsunade considered his proposal. _

"_I'll give you a month, Sasuke, a month. If this plan of yours doesn't work, and if Sakura isn't protected, then I'll reassign you to another mission." _

_A sliver of a smile appeared on the raven haired boy's face but quickly vanished. "Thank you."_

_Naruto had so much to say, so much to protest. He eyed his surroundings and the clock, knowing this wasn't the time and place to really _talk_ to the Uchiha. He'll have to save his thoughts for another time. _

---

Sasuke unconsciously fingered a small box in his pocket, walking closer and closer to the Konoha Main Hospital.

- - - - -

Tenten, Shino, and Kiba finished their mission extraordinarily quickly that day. It was a simple assassination job on the borderline between the Rain and Fire Country. A group of bandits had been pillaging towns around the north-western area.

A task like that was made into quick work with the lack of civilians to hinder the team. It was like a rule the girl had learned as she became more cultured – almost every border was 'abandoned' in a sense meaning both countries didn't want to spend money to fix broken roads, wild overgrowth, old bridges, etc.

The weapons specialist was finished with her portion of the bandits in almost half the time it regularly took. In the moment she turned around to help Kiba, she saw the rare sight of Shino reassembling his bugs, since he was usually done a good chunk of time before her.

She only killed about three of the leftovers Kiba and Akamaru missed during Gatsuga before Kiba staggered over to her, just a bit dizzy, with an annoyed face.

"What's the hurry?"

Tenten threw him a half grin, half smirk over her shoulders as she picked up a saber on the ground. "Mad that a woman finished before you?"

Kiba 'Che'-ed before stumbling over to Akamaru to rub his back. "Hey Shino!" Tenten yelled, pushing herself off the ground to run over to another pile of weapons. "Slacking today? I usually don't get to see you picking up!"

As things turned out, Neji wasn't the only one missing from the regular mission – Lee was, too. Tenten was surprised when she showed up at the ANBU office meeting two unfamiliar masks.

Kiba grinned cheekily and looked over at their quiet friend. "Not slacking Tenten, probably just still recovering from the twins he nailed two days ago."

"Ha!"

Shino's brows furrowed, a clear sign he was glaring death at Kiba. "Are you asking for a fight, Kiba? Go ahead and make my day. Just make sure you don't trip over yourself on your way here."

The dog boy outwardly jeered at the fact he easily provoked his unsocial partner to speak 25 words. "_Please_, man. This is merely a spring in my step compared to you this morning."

"Idiots?" Tenten interrupted, rolling up her scroll (and her eyes at their behavior). "Come on and hurry up! Go fight when we get back to Konoha!"

She was already in the forest sprinting when the two caught up to her.

"Yeah, what's the hurry, anyways, Tenten? You never answered my question." Kiba said, riding on Akamaru. The dog barked.

Tenten jumped up to a branch, leaving her two companions on the ground. "It's nothing. I just wanna see what Headquarters is up to. I mean, the Main _Road_ is destroyed and they _still _want us to go out on a mission?" She stopped and looked down, sensing Shino staring and Kiba with a knowing smirk. "What?"

"There's more."

Tenten rolled her eyes and looked away from the two. So Shino was interested in her business, too?

"_And_," she sighed, stressing the word, "I wanna see why Neji and Lee aren't here. The Captain usually calls us together or none at all."

Kiba turned his head to Shino, still keeping an eye on Tenten. "Figures."

The kunoichi, overhearing his comment, looked at the duo, wearily. "And what's that suppose to mean?"

"When I went to the Hyuuga compound to tell Neji I'll be taking his place, he literally _reeked_ of you."

Tenten turned her attention ahead, hiding the blush on her cheeks. "Whatever"

"I think you guys banged." Kiba stated, blunt and outright.

"_What!_" she shrieked, flinging a sharp kunai at Kiba's head. Birds resting on the tree branches suddenly took flight.

The Aburame stepped to the right just a bit while Akamaru dodged the flying projectile expertly. However, Kiba, who was riding on top of the dog, was less fortunate. The kunai sliced through his hair, not enough to give him a buzz cut, but enough to warn Kiba what could have been if he continued talking.

His partially gloved hand ran through his mane, grabbing a handful of hair in the end. He observed the cut pieces in his palm and looked up, giving Tenten an irritated look.

"Unnecessary, dude"

The rest of the way back was silent. It was morning when the team arrived on Konohan grounds. At the North Gate, Shino departed the team with an excuse of needing to meet his father.

"Suuure," Kiba sang before he left, but the bug specialist ignored him.

He, uncharacteristically enough, volunteered to go to the ANBU office to wrap up the paperwork for the mission. Tenten waved a "thanks" to Kiba and Akamaru before continuing on to the Hyuuga compound.

She took a shortcut, which saved the girl about ten minutes of walking. The only reason why most people didn't take the route, however, was because there was a sharp slope that separated the Hyuuga grounds from the public. It was certainly more jagged and taller than most of the hills overlooking Konoha – cliff-like, even, but Tenten knew there was actually a garden up there. Sometimes, her and Lee would sneak into the compound extra early and drag Neji to the precipice to watch the sunrise before practice.

Tenten threw herself over the hedge and onto the clearing. After readjusting her backpack and scroll, she easily avoided the traps set for intruders and opened the door that lead to the back of the compound – and to where Neji's room was.

The girl in buns silently jogged over to the window she snuck out of a day ago after Lee, Tenten cringed at the memory, woke her and the Hyuuga up. When she was just five feet from climbing through the window, she stopped in her tracks immediately and dived to the right, hiding her form from the two figures inside the room.

Although only for a second, Tenten could see a tanned girl laying on the middle of Neji's bed, back turned to the window as she propped herself up by the elbows. She had hair the color of red grapes tied in a high ponytail, long bangs swept apart.

'_What to do, what to do?_' Tenten thought, raking her head for all options.

'_I should go in. I mean why the hell not? It's not like it's a crime to worry over your teammate's well being. But wouldn't that look like I'm spying on him? But what the hell is he doing with a girl on his bed anyway? Wait, wait, wait, maybe Headquarters gave him to her? No, there's no logic in that. Does that mean Lee got one, too? No, that's wrong. This is all wrong! That's it. I'm going in._'

Tenten made a move to jump through the open window but caught herself quickly and ducked behind the wall again.

'_But what if I'm interrupting something? How awkward would _that _be? Shit, this ridiculous-,_'

"Tenten, get out of there," said the firm and baritone voice of Hyuuga Neji.

The kunoichi breathed in and blew out a deep breath of air, watching her bangs flutter as her breath escaped. She took off her backpack and scroll first, swinging it over before getting in herself.

"Hey," She said, mostly to Neji, although when the mystery girl flopped around on the bed and sat up to look at her, did Tenten really see her.

And she was gorgeous.

"I'm sorry, hun, we're busy right now."

Just kidding, she was _hideous_.

Tenten looked skeptically at her as if she was a fly traipsing around. "No, _I'm_ sorry. I didn't care."

'_She's a foreigner, that's for sure._' Tenten gathered, noticing the Hidden Mist's forehead protector tied around her waist. The brunette looked up to eye Neji wearily. "Who the hell is she?" She asked nonchalantly, as if the object of the question wasn't even in the room.

The Hyuuga was about to respond when the girl cut him off.

"The only daughter of the wealthiest daimyo in the Hidden Mist Village, heir to the biggest merchant chain in the world, star of five number one box office hit movies, eight time winner of the annual pageant held between the Mist, Rock, and Waterfall, and thirteen time cover girl for Kunoichi Weekly Mitsuki Hanon. Who the hell are you?"

The notorious Weapon Mistress of Konoha, feared through out the Five Great Shinobi Villages at the young age of twenty one answered with a sugary fake smile,

"Tenten."

The two girls shot each other death glares from across the room while Neji stood stiffly, unenthusiastically irate with the their behavior.

"Mistress Hanon! Hyuuga Hinabi is ready to take you on a tour around Konoha. Please meet us in the Great Hall," called out a polite voice outside the screen doors.

"I'm coming right now!" Hanon shouted back, craning her back to face the exit. She scooted off the edge of the bed and stood up, skipping over to Neji. "I'll see you tonight," she smiled and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

Tenten's mouth, open for just a second, closed quickly as both she and Neji glared daggers at the retreating form.

The kunoichi got out a folded white shirt from her backpack and strode over to the closet in the left wing of his spacious room. Silently, she took a hanger off the rack and calmly slipped the shirt in her hands through it. Tenten had borrowed a shirt the day ago to cover up the risqué top she wore to the club before going back to her apartment.

A firm _click_ sounded off after the brunette closed the door. She wheeled around and leaned backwards, crossing her arms together and looking at Neji suspiciously.

"No, seriously, who the hell is she?"

He turned around to face the other wall. "You heard her."

"And now I need to hear you. Why is she here? And why did Headquarters substitute Kiba and Shino for you and Lee? Do you know why the Main Road is destroyed?"

The usual silence struck before he answered her. "You ask too many questions."

"I ask the right questions."

"…Yesterday afternoon when I was ready to head toward the North Gate, Inuzuka stopped me to say I wasn't needed for the mission. Instead, I was to report to the ninth floor at Headquarters right away."

"Ninth floor?" Tenten paused. "Nothing serious happened, right? Or is this tied into the Main Road thing?"

"The Captain said an Akatsuki member, Uchiha Itachi, pursued Haruno Sakura around noon. Uchiha Sasuke was with her at the time, so he intercepted him until the Godaime came. Shortly afterward, Hoshigaki Kisame entered the scene," Neji turned around look at the girl. "You remember the name, correct?"

She nodded. "The shark guy."

"Needless to say, they fought. The Godaime and Kisame were fighting while Uchiha was busy with his own brother. Uzumaki Naruto came in thirty minutes into the fight."

Tenten nodded, hanging onto his words. "What happened next?"

"They left."

The brunette rolled her eyes and stood up instead of leaning against the closet. "Your story telling skills suck." They broke eye contact for a moment before she spoke again, "What did Itachi want with Sakura?"

"Nothing is confirmed yet, but it seems as though he wants her to heal his eyes. So I've been told, using the Mangekyou Sharingan is like a double edged sword. Although it's the most powerful form of Sharingan, it can also blind the user if frequently used."

Tenten knitted her brows together in confusion. "Why doesn't he just get the Godaime?"

Neji rolled his eyes up to the ceiling as if scoffing at her stupid question. "It's not exactly a walk in the park to 'get' the Godaime to heal your murdering eyes when you're Uchiha Itachi."

She ignored him and replied dryly, "Ya got a point."

He continued, "Most people already think and know Haruno is going to surpass the Godaime in due time. She already healed more patients than the third and fourth ranking medic combined. The theory for now is that the older Uchiha is playing it safe and asking for second best."

"So where do you play into this?"

He disregarded her question. "The ultimatum the Akatsuki team offered was that if Haruno went with them willingly, they'll leave Konoha alone. However, if there's resistance, they'll attack. Either way, it's a lose-lose situation. If she follows them and heal the Uchiha's eyes, that will only cause more bloodshed in the future. The Hidden Villages would be in great danger. But if she didn't go, she'll be endangering Konoha."

"Jeez…,"

"Right now, she needs a bodyguard. The Godaime's assistant asked for the Captain to rank up ANBU's top 10 and tell them the situation. Lee was there, too. The rest of the ANBU and the lower ranked shinobis might have caught news of this, but their facts are blurry. All they know is that the Akatsuki attacked Konoha. Regardless, the top 10 now know they, if called upon, will be stationed as Haruno's bodyguard, although I high doubt we'll be needed."

"Why's that?"

"The younger Uchiha. He'll most likely be trying to get the job from the Godaime herself."

"Ah."

The room went quiet as Tenten soaked in all the information.

"Well, what about that girl? I don't see how she fits into any of this."

The ninja took a bit longer to answer her question. "She doesn't. When I came back from Headquarters, Hiashi told me he thinks I need to be more _cultured_ with girls around the world."

Tenten let out a sarcastic laugh and leaned against the door once more. "Oh? It's time for The! Hyuuga Neji to abandon the joys of bachelorhood?"

The raven haired nin gave her a hard look as she pushed off the wall to trek back to her belongings. "Jealous?" she heard behind her back.

She smirked at him. "In your dreams," she said before hefting up her backpack and scroll.

Tenten was about to leave – her left foot was ready to push off the window sill when she paused and glanced back. "Training at six, then?"

"Yes."

- - - - -

Sasuke was finally on the seventh floor when he turned the corner to find Naruto leaning against the opposite wall of Sakura's office, hands behind his head.

"What are you here for, dobe?"

"I thought I'd find you here."

The blonde looked solemnly at Sasuke as he walked in front of Sakura's door. "You can't be serious."

"I don't bluff, Naruto."

"You're gonna get turned down, you know. You're gonna make her sad. And angry. Don't you know it's not going to work!"

"Why wouldn't it?" Sasuke asked, advancing forward to face Naruto. "She said she'd do anything for me."

Naruto weary look turned harder now, glaring at his friend. "That was when we were _twelve_, Sasuke. Twelve! We're twenty, now!"

"Your point?"

"My _point_ is that it'll make her sad. I'm her friend and I don't ever wanna see that happen. Haven't you hurt her enough this life time? Even if you never really talked much, I thought you two were still friends, you know? We've been teammates for eight fricken' years!"

"If you're her _friend_, then you should know what I'm doing is trying to protect her. If you're also _my_ friend, then you should know what I'm trying to do is avenge my clan, too. Everyone's happy in the end. What's wrong with that?"

Naruto groaned. Why was he so thick?

"Whatever. Even so, are you planning on marrying her right away? Proposing to her in the middle of the day at _work_? Having your honeymoon on her goddamn patient's bed? What makes you think that's gonna sweep her off her feet!"

"And this is coming from the guy who thinks taking a girl out to Ichiraku Ramen will woo her into oblivion?"

Two nurses walked by, throwing them weird looks. They suddenly talked faster in a hushed tone and scurried away.

Sasuke shot him a look that clearly rang the message of, 'Just shut up.' "Look, this isn't the time to talk about it. We'll talk later, maybe, but I came here to talk to Sakura and not you. So step aside."

The frog summoner put his palm against Sasuke's shoulder, stopping him from advancing. "Seriously, Sasuke-,"

"Get out of my way, Naruto," The Uchiha said, harder than ever. "Do you know what I do with people who are in my way? I move them."

The two glared intensely into each others eyes before Naruto finally sighed and pushed his hand off the other. He sulked away from the door and assumed his position on the wall where Sasuke first saw him.

"Fine. See if I care if you lose all ability to produce offspring."

Sasuke smirked. "We'll see."

As he opened the door, Naruto could see Sakura from the doorway looking up in surprise. The door shut, leaving the image of her expression on the blonde's mind.

Jiraiya's apprentice tilted his head up, closing his eyes. He wondered how long it was going to take.

Ten minutes passed and he decided to take a seat on the bench below him. Maybe he should go home and wait to call Sasuke to see what happened.

The shinobi was about to get up when something similar to the sound of an explosion went off inside the office. A second later, he caught sight of a disheveled Sasuke being pushed out the door violently.

Bits and pieces of his clothes seemed charred and his hair stuck up in more places than usual. The air thickened as the Uchiha spun around in the nick of time for Sakura to shove a small box into his chest with so much force it knocked him onto the bench beside Naruto.

Sasuke reached up to take the box in his hand and glared irritably at nowhere in particular. Sakura sharply shut the door, a cue for the blonde to get up and see if she was all right.

Not even sparing time to give Sasuke the "I told you so," he was just _asking_ for, he walked softly to the office. "Hey, Sakura? You okay?"

Suddenly, the door flung open and a three holed hole puncher hurled toward him. Naruto barely dodged, surprised that she would attack him, too.

"_What_? What did I do!" He yelled.

"**YOU'RE FRIENDS WITH HIM!**" Came the demonic shrill of inner Sakura.

"No, I'm not!"

"Sakura!" Naruto continued. "This is a HOSPITAL! You don't deliberately try to kill people – AH!" He dived to the ground and curled into a fetal position next to the door. Stuck on the wall where his previous person was (and awfully close to Sasuke's head) were eight terrifyingly big tranquilizers with all the ability in the world to knock an ox out for half a year. That is, if it was a lucky oxen, too.

"Holy crap, Sakura, violence is not the answer!"

A wicked looking kunoichi pried open the door, her hands grappling onto the knob. Her neck turned eerily at Naruto, eyes ablaze. Sakura's regularly normal teeth suddenly resembled that of Akamaru's fangs.

"No, Naruto, it's not. Violence is the question," she seethed, dangerously. "**AND THE ANSWER IS YES!**"

"Aghhhh!" Naruto cried, lunging forward for the other knob to pull the door shut. Sasuke, aware of Sakura's monstrous strength, helped Naruto with the door. They needed a plan.

"Plan A. We try to talk to her, calm her down, give her tea, and maybe even use one or two of those tranquilizers. It'll take an hour, tons of bruises, a broken arm from both of us, and no guarantee of success."

"**IF YOU GUYS DON'T OPEN THE GODDAMN DOOR RIGHT NOW, I'LL PUNCH A HOLE THROUGH THE WALL!**"

"Is there a Plan B?" Naruto begged.

"Yes. We run."

"Wait, Sasuke!"

"What?" Sasuke asked, clearly annoyed, and sensing the hinges on the door giving out.

"This is important!"

"_What_ is more important than running right now!"

"What are you doing tomorrow night?"

"NOTHING!"

"OKAY, GOOD!" Naruto let go of the door. "Later!"

And they ran.

-----

As always, thank you to everyone who reviewed, and I'm finally back from my vacation!

Anyways, from now on, the story won't be as serious. I've finally gotten over the problem, the solution, and Sasuke is taking that route. I love you all for bearing with me to this point; I thought it'd get a little boring. I give you all… 5 internets!

Thankfully, I'll be throwing in a lot more characters to this story to make things livelier. To tell you guys now, I'm already reserving a special role for Gaara. Hope no one minds, I just think it gets a bit monotonous when an author focuses too much on the main characters. Things should be a lot more fun, ne?

Neji and Tenten also hold a semi important place in the future. You'll all see why. That's why I have more Neji/Ten moments than Naru/Hina or any other. But don't worry, I still know that they're there. For all you fans that love them, I'll make a promise to you now: they'll have their time to shine.

So why did Naruto ask Sasuke if he was busy the next day? Plus, where's Hinata, Shikamaru, Ino, Temari, and gang? But more importantly, how in the hell is Sasuke going to get Sakura to marry him if she's going to commit homicide on his ass?

Find out in **Chapter 8:** **Movies**!

Please review!

-stardust-chan


	8. Movies

EEEK. After re-reading my last chapter 8 I almost barfed. No wonder why I didn't get so many reviews! That chapter was absolutely horrid, and I apologize. I'm working on chapter 9 but I couldn't help but re-vamp this installment just because – well, just because. So I hope you can forgive me, I've changed a little bit but not much. Still the same thing… I just fluffed it out a bit and added an argument scene. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **Naruto. Not. Mine.

_You're not trying hard enough,_  
_Our lives are changing lanes_  
_You ran me off the road,_  
"Reptilia" - The Strokes

* * *

Three knocks penetrated through the door.

Sasuke looked up from his position on the floor with various weapons strewn around him. He wasn't much of an arsenal guy, he definitely preferred Ninjutsu over weapons, but it didn't hurt to look over all offensive methods instead of heavily relying on one area.

The Uchiha glared at the door. He didn't remember any events that called for his assistance that day. Three knocks sounded off again.

Sighing, he pushed himself off the ground and stalked toward the entrance. With a deadpanned expression, he pulled open the door to reveal one beaming Uzumaki Naruto.

The two stared at each other contrastingly, one with both eyes closed in upside down U's and a grin so wide Konoha's two green beasts would be proud while the other with a dry stare.

A minute later, Sasuke closed the door and shut all the locks, performing a quick seal so that Naruto couldn't pop in. From behind the entrance, the Uchiha could hear the blonde's muffled complaints.

"Hey Sasuke, what are you doing?"

The prodigy walked calmly back to his spot on the living room floor when out from the wide windows, he saw a hanging Naruto banging on the glass.

"And do you always have to be such a tool?"

Glowering at the window, Sasuke strode over to the blinds and pulled them over the Kyuubi-vessel's form.

A second later, he heard the noise of a thousand objects rain down hitting his roof. Sasuke cursed colorfully.

The noise wouldn't stop and he figured the idiot was performing Kage Bunshins on his roof repeatedly. Since he was on the top floor of his apartment building, the noise from the incoming Naruto's were deafening.

Slamming a violent looking axe to the hardwood floor, he walked angrily toward the door. Jerking it open, he snarled, "What the hell do you want?"

Of course, Naruto was right in front of him glaring back with just as much force. "To get your dumb ass to woo Sakura the right way!"

Sasuke looked confusedly at the spot Naruto stood outside the entry way while the blonde jumped in. He quickly set his eyes on the gargantuan axe on the floor and picked it up excitedly. "Let's see… who do I hate?" he asked himself, looking eerily behind him at Sasuke.

Sasuke grabbed a scroll from the floor and called back the weapons. Naruto rolled his eyes. "Fun sucker."

"What do you want?" The Uchiha repeated, crossing his arms and looking down at Naruto, who made himself comfortable on the couch.

"I told you," he replied, resting his left ankle on his right knee, "we just want to help you get Sakura."

His opposite looked suspiciously at him. "'We'?"

"We." Naruto confirmed, turning to the door. "Come in, guys!"

Bursting in from the unlocked doors marched Ino and Temari with food followed by an enthusiastic Kiba and Akamaru and a meek Hinata holding some drinks. Just when Sasuke thought those were all of the newcomers, Shikamaru strolled in nonchalantly with his hands behind his head and Kankuro; his attention devoted to the two Jounins beside him – Yuuhi Kurenai and Shizune - both with a bulky bag in each hand.

Sasuke looked nonplussed and turned to Naruto, pointing an accusing finger at the nins who appeared in his home. "What is this nonsense?"

Ino flung the bags of food in her hands on the kitchen counter. "This _nonsense_ is your ticket to win forehead's heart!"

The Uchiha, anger seeping visibly through his eyes, glowered. "They know?"

"Everyone knows!" scoffed Temari, imitating Ino's actions. The girls walked over to Sasuke and stood on either side of him, inspecting his person.

"The hell are you doing?"

"Checking you out, duh." Answered Kib, hovering around food. Hinata set down the refreshments and timidly tried to pull the snacks away from Kiba's hands. "P-please save the main course for later, Kiba."

"But Hinata!" the dog boy wined.

Kurenai cut in. "Hinata nothing. Kiba, get away from the food."

The cheek-stripped shinobi stuck his tongue out at her. "You're not my sensei anymore."

"There must be something wrong with my eyes because I can't keep them off you," drawled Kankuro, hanging off Shizune's shoulder.

"KAN-KU-ROOOOO!" yelled Temari, spinning away from Sasuke and storming to her brother.

"You know, you must be tired, Shizune, 'cause you've been running through my mind alllll-,"

Before the puppet master could continue his line, Temari punched him square in the jaw with so much force he landed on the wall opposite of them. Shikamaru, centimeters near the snubbed nin, inched slowly to the left.

"My 'play' never ends-,"

Shikamaru hit him over the head before anything else escaped his mouth. "You're going to dieif you keep this up."

Sasuke growled. "As the owner of this house, I tell all of you to shut the hell up."

"And as the future Hokage I tell all of you to par-tay!" chipped in the Kyuubi-vessel, shooting up from the couch.

"Naruto, SIT DOWN!" Yelled Sasuke and Ino in unison.

Naruto recoiled and pouted. "Fine."

"Sasuke, you too."

Said shinobi turned around to give the Yamanaka girl a stone stare.

"This is my house."

"And this is my best friend we're talking about. Rumor has it that you stormed into her office during her break and _chucked-the-ring-box-onto-her-desk-_,"

"-I didn't _chuck_ it-,"

"-You _chucked _it, dude?"

"I. Didn't. Chuck. It."

"You did _what_?"

"I DIDN'T CHUCK IT!"

"You're dating?" quipped Kurenai.

"No!" wailed Naruto in vain, "They're not even dating! Oh, the irony, they're NOT EVEN dating!"

"I thought we were here to help him woo her?" questioned Shizune.

"You are, but on a whole different level."

"NOT to mention," continued Ino, glaring at her interrupters, "that you didn't say anything _remotely_ romantic to do _any _justice to a marriage proposal!"

"Oh my…," whispered Hinata before Kiba stepped in.

"-Marriage proposal? I just thought he was just shut down on a date!"

"Ino, shut _up_!" snarled Sasuke, tightening his fists.

"No I will NOT shut up! You just threw the goddamn box on the table and looked at her like it was nothing! When she _didn't_ respond, you asked her if was stupid, or _some_thing, and if she knew what it was! Well of COURSE she knew what it was, you dumbass, she of all people would know what wedding rings are and DEFINITELY are they not suppose to be hurled across her office in the middle of the day-,"

"Calm down, Ino," Shikamaru said, coming forward to where the commotion was with two hands in front of him, trying to catch her shoulders.

"No I will NOT calm down, either, Shikamaru, GET AWAY FROM ME-!"

Sasuke breathed in and out calmly, his breath audible in the room. He clenched and unclenched his fists and finally cleared his throat. "I don't need this." He sneered coldly and started making his way out from the living room. Four steps later, he stopped in his tracks and turned around.

"Wait, _you _guys leave. I don't need this from any of you."

"Ino," started Kurenai, "Maybe you should stop. I understand you and Sakura are good friends but perhaps the best way of helping her is to not help at all. This sort of issue is only for Sasuke and Sakura to sort out. And Sasuke," The prodigy turned to look at her, "We're only here on good intentions. Although we're not trying to interfere with your relationship, we are trying to help out one half in order to make it better for the whole. "

Ino crossed her arms over her chest while Sasuke looked away. "What do you have in mind?"

Shizune stepped up. "We bought a bunch of romantic movies to teach you how to be a better lover."

The dog trainer slinked up behind Shizune and threw a sly grin at Sasuke. "AKA We bought you some porn."

Temari promptly threw a spoon from the kitchen at Kiba's head. "We thought the first step to introducing you to the full spectrum of emotion is by having you observe others who actually have a heart. So let's pop in the movie and warm up some popcorn."

Sasuke was busy observing the DVDs in the bulky bags that Kurenai and Shizune bought. "Dirty Dancing? The Notebook?" He fished a particular DVD out from the collection. "_Breakfast at Tiffany's_? You expect me to watch all this?"

"Maybe not all of them, but definitely most of them!" Ino chimed in, coming next to Sasuke and digging in the bag herself. She plucked out a tiny box titled 'The Holiday.' "This one's one of my favs! We _must_ watch this."

The Uchiha paled as the circumstances in the situation suddenly dawned upon him.

After five hours of excruciating pain for the men, the chick flick movie marathon was finally over. Kurenai had to leave abruptly in the middle of the streak to take the baby away from the babysitter's care and Shizune excitedly tagged along to see the infant. This Shikamaru, Temari, Ino, Kiba, Naruto, Hinata, and one sullen and annoyed Sasuke in the apartment.

The Avenger was not so subtly telling the rest of the crew to move along already, but his friends had other plans.

Ino pulled herself toward the armchair Sasuke currently occupied and stood domineeringly over him. She placed two hands on her hips and unconsciously puffed out her chest.

"Okay, pretend I'm Sakura and ask me out on a date."

The room quieted down and focused their attention on the pair. Sasuke directed his patented glare of death upon the Yamanaka girl but she seemed unaffected.

"I don't need to ask her out on date."

A sarcastic laugh escaped from the blonde girl's mouth. "Eh, I don't think this is an option for you. Not only are you going to take her out on _one_ date, but you are going to take her out on _a great number_ of dates before you even think of popping the question again."

Ino continued her lecture while Sasuke crossed his arms defensively. "In this day in age men are going to have to do a lot more chasing and a lot less bitching to get the girl. Now, pretend like I'm Sakura and ask me out on a date."

"Couldn't we just ship them off to Sin City drunk with a package of porn and watch as the magic happens? I think it'd save us from a bunch of grief," chimed in Kiba.

Naruto rolled his eyes in an undignified fashion. "Kiba, not everything can be solved by porn and alcohol."

Kiba was about to speak when Ino threw the closest thing beside her – Sasuke's remote.

"My remote," scowled Sasuke.

"My head! Give it up already, will you guys?" yelped Kiba.

Shikamaru spoke up. "Actually, that might actually work-," Ino shot him a grim look and the spiky haired strategist immediately shut up.

"Oh I'm sorry," Ino began, "Was I under the impression that Sasuke actually cared for Sakura? Silly me."

"He does!" yelled Naruto, fisting the air. He was looking intensely at Sasuke, who just adverted his gaze.

Ino did the bitch stance again and glared at Sasuke. "If he does, than why doesn't he say so?"

Everyone looked at the ex-missing nin expectantly, hoping for a positive answer.

"I do care for her," he said silently, almost in defeat. Ino grinned triumphantly. She took advantage at his stabbed ego and prodded on.

"That's a start. Now, repeat those five words in your head so next time you use that line you don't need seven other shinobis in the room forcing you to." The pony tailed girl called over her shoulder, "Hinata! Bring me the comb and hair gel!"

Sasuke instantly clenched his teeth and turned on the glare of death at the other occupants in the room, especially at Ino. "What?"

"I don't hear you chanting!" sang Ino, as the rest of the occupants shrank further away from the pair. The blonde was really pushing her luck with the short fused flame user. "While you're practicing, I'm going to do _something_ with that op of a hair you have…,"

Sasuke looked like he was about to explode with verbal and physical attacks. He gripped his fists so hard his arm was shaking. Naruto was ready to step out in front of Ino when suddenly his best friend walked brusquely past everyone and out the door without another word said.

* * *

The younger Uchiha stood with his back facing the outer entrance to his apartment complex, his index finger and thumb pinching the bridge of his nose. He sucked in a deep breath of air before sensing Hinata and Naruto tumbling out the door. The duo ran in front of Sasuke to face him.

"H-Hey teme, where are you going?" panted Naruto, slightly afraid of what he was going to hear.

His counterpart exhaled fast. "The liquor store, Naruto. I'm going to take Kiba's advice."

The look on both Naruto and Hinata's faces were pure shock and manic. They both knew how narrow Sasuke's tunnel vision became when he had his mind set on something.

"Oh shit…," Naruto said to himself. "Sasuke, y-you realize that was a joke, right?"

The other shinobi rolled his eyes. "You also realize what I said was a joke, right?"

The Rasengan user slapped his forehead before dragging his hand through his spiky locks. He gave his friend the most incredulous look. "Sasuke Uchiha…jokes?"

Sasuke gave Naruto a deadpanned expression when suddenly, Hinata interjected. "She's been in love with you for years!"

Sasuke turned his attention to the Hyuuga heiress. "Love?" The word sounded foreign and meaningless coming from him.

"E-Ever since I me-met you guys, I could see the feelings she has for you," explained Hinata, toying with the hem of her shirt. She didn't meet is eyes, but kept her gaze at the ground.

"She stayed devoted to you for the entire time you left the vi-village and she fought so hard to clear your name. I remember all the times I sat across from her at the village high counsel meetings with the Godaime, my father, and the other patriarchs of the Leaf's clans and she would always defend you."

It was Sasuke's turn to shift his gaze at the floor. "She didn't need to do that."

"She wanted to do that – for you _and_ for herself. She wanted you to come back."

The Uchiha pressed his lips into a thin line before asking quietly, "Then why didn't she accept my proposal?"

"Don't you think marriage is a little… abrupt?" interrupted Naruto, hands emphasizing his words.

"You would know a lot about being abrupt, huh, Naruto?" sneered Sasuke while his friend growled.

Hinata sneaked a peak at Sasuke through her dark lashes. "How… How much do you actually know about Sakura?"

Sasuke and Naruto broke their heated glares at each other and looked at Hinata. The dark haired boy frowned. "I've known her for the past ten years; we practically grew up together. I'm pretty sure I know a lot about her."

It was Naruto's turn to grill the victim. "She doesn't mean knowing Sakura's battle stances, her strengths and weaknesses in battle, or her techniques. What about the other things that make her human? Do you know what's her favorite color? What about her favorite food? What does she do when she's not busy saving lives at the hospital?" With each question, Sasuke's face became more and more unreadable.

"Do you know all that?" Sasuke asked defensively.

"Actually yeah, I do - and a lot more. The past ten years I haven't just been ignoring her, because what that girl has to say is actually worth hearing. What were you doing?" Naruto accused.

"I…," Sasuke started, thinking back, "I guess I was busy completing missions with you guys beside me. I was busy protecting her."

"Sakura doesn't need protecting," said Hinata, quietly. "She needs someone to care about her wellbeing emotionally and spiritually. Training with Tsunade really matured her throughout the years. I'm not sure if you noticed it while you were… away…," the heiress fingered the loose string on her shirt, "but day by day she started building this wall around her. She puts on a front and is forced either by her profession or by herself to ask people what's wrong with them instead of ever asking herself what's wrong."

"What do you think I should do?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto slapped a hand on Sasuke's shoulders and shook him for good measure. "Get to know her. Build an actual relationship with her. If you don't even know anything about the mask she puts on, you really don't deserve her."

"She's been following me for almost ten years. _Ten years!_ How could she not accept?" barked Sasuke, fingers massaging the bridge of his nose. His way of completing the mission was a lot more complicated than it seemed.

Something must have struck a nerve in Naruto. His rage started ascending and Hinata and Sasuke could see the whiskers grow on the Kyuubi boy's tan face.

"What is WRONG with you?" Naruto cried in vain, lunging forward to tackle Sasuke on the ground. Hinata gasped and moved backward, away from the flailing limbs.

"I don't love her!" yelled Sasuke, throwing a chakra infused fist in the general direction of Naruto's face. The blonde pushed away from Sasuke just in time for the Uchiha to connect his fist to the ground. Cracks immediately appeared on the sidewalk.

"God damn it, if you keep telling me that, I just might believe it!" The two were tangled again on the ground fighting for the upper hand.

"You _do_ love her!" insisted Hinata, stammering put aside. "Both of you, stop it right now!"

Naruto froze and his friend silently obeyed. The three stood in a triangle around each other while the two men were engaged in a fierce glaring war.

* * *

It was ten after five when Sakura walked out of the Hospital. She looked around the main street.

There weren't much people out, probably all at home or at a restaurant eating dinner. The peach sun was touching down on the horizon, giving way to the cobalt evening sky. The damage the fight created left marks here and there on the streets, but other than that, the citizens repaired the buildings pretty well.

Sakura pulled her sweater a little closer to her as a gust of wind picked up. It gave her a little extra push down the street as she made her way to Tsunade's office.

"Tsunade?"

The elder woman rose from her slumber immediately and absent mindedly rubbed her eyes. She took a swig of the jug of water next to her (sake was right next to it) and shuffled a stack of papers before pausing mid action.

"Sakura?"

The Godaime's office door opened and in stepped her apprentice.

"What's up?" The older woman asked.

Sakura looked around and stepped toward the chairs in front of her sensei's desk. She smiled as she sat down.

"…Hi." she began.

Tsunade raised an eyebrow at her and crossed her arms. "What's wrong?"

"I want you to dismiss Sasuke from protecting me."

The blonde sat back in her chair. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," Sakura stressed the word mean, "I don't want you assigning him this mission to be my bodyguard. I don't want him around me anymore." The girl voiced her words clearly, but they were obviously forced.

"But… why?"

Sakura ignored the simple question. "If you care for me at all as a student, Tsunade, you'll do this for me. _Please_."

Tsunade could see the desperateness in Sakura's eyes. "You still haven't answered my question. Aren't you two… friends?"

"No!" The girl roared. "No, we're NOT friends! PLEASE, Tsunade, I can't do this! I can't keep on having him around me! I. Will. Go. _Insane_." Sakura punctuated each word slapping the back of her hand into the palm of the other one.

There was a silence.

"I'm perfectly content with anyone else you want to put me up with, I swear!" she went on, "I work well with Naruto - I always have. Lee is a sweetheart and a great fighter, you know that! A-And Neji! He's one of the best! And what about Kakashi? He fought against Itachi before!"

Tsunade watched in sympathy as Sakura rambled off a dozen other names.

"You're in love with him, aren't you?"

Sakura pushed away from the desk. "NO! Yes? Agh, God, I don't even know! I just know I can't be near him; please, just get him away from me!" she whined, all of a sudden sounding like a little girl.

"Oh, Sakura…,"

"Please, do NOT, do NOT torture me, Tsunade. I need to figure some things out for myself first. I can't let him come into my life and screw everything up again. What I need now isn't to be confused over emotions. Konoha's in trouble, and I have to be strong as a kunoichi. If Sasuke is going to endanger all that, why would you risk it?" she spoke faster as she continued.

"You know he's one of the best ANBU's out there-,"

"Yes, and so is Naruto, Kakashi, and Lee! Do you see the difference here? I'M FRIENDS WITH THEM! They care for me! I work well with them! I can list you a thousand different reasons why it would be so much easier to pair me up with them and not Sasuke, but the point is please don't let him get anywhere close to me, please-,"

"-But Sasuke _does_ care about you-"

Sakura laughed hysterically, "Oh my God, Tsunade, don't tell me that. That is the biggest-," she rolled her eyes up to look for the words she wanted, "-load of shit I have heard ALL day. I don't want him near me. Please don't let him be." she begged.

Tsunade studied the girl in front of her. "You're scared of him, aren't you?"

Sakura stopped her tirade and inhaled deeply. "Yes," she confessed.

"You're scared you're going to fall in love with him and he'll let you down. Again."

"Yes." she confessed again, head in hands now.

"Sakura, you know feelings have no role in getting you out of harms way-,"

"I _know_, but PLEASE, Tsunade! Do this for me as a _favor_. You've had your heart broken before. You know how bad it is. Please, _please_ save me from having to endure that again-," and with that, Sakura started sobbing.

The Sannin frowned and got up from her chair. She walked over to her student and took her in her arms, stroking her hair gently. This only made Sakura cry harder.

"I hate being at the mercy of my emotions. People have always called me weak because of them, and trust me, I'm trying to find ways to shut them off! That's why I don't want to be near Sasuke. I'm trying, I swear I'm trying!"

"It's okay, shh, I know you're trying…," soothed Tsunade. She leaned in even closer and hugged the crying girl, her chest tightened a little as she remembered the tears she spilled over a broken heart. "I'll see what I can do."

Sakura seemed to calm down a little after the promise. She breathed in deep and patted her chest a little, trying to regain her breath. She wiped the remaining tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Thank you."

Tsunade smiled back and tucked a pink strand of hair behind her ear. "Cheer up. The worst isn't even coming. We'll figure out something…,"

Sakura nodded and hiccuped, stepping back to give her teacher a look of deep appreciation.

"Gaara's here in Konoha." Tsunade stated.

The green eyed girl failed to see the relevance of the fact. "Oh?"

"Things have been hectic lately, and unfortunately, not a lot of people are free to entertain him. I was suppose to go out to dinner with him tomorrow night to talk over a few things, but obviously, I can't afford free time. Can you take my place?"

Sakura laughed. "Me and Gaara? Like on… a date?"

Tsunade shrugged. "What's the harm in that?"

* * *

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